Fallout: The Beginning - Charkole (Prequel)
by Charkole
Summary: *Set before the events of "The End", join Sarah's bloodline in Vault 101. Figure out the experiments and lies that are inside and out of a bomb shelter. Familiar faces are seen for the first time as more light is shed on the events set prior to the Megaton Detonation. Learn history that characters have with each other and why they turn into unpredictable psychopaths in The End.
1. Introduction and Basic Plot

Hello! And thank you for riving at least a first glance to my Fanfiction! Fallout: The Beginning takes place before the events of The End: a standalone story with original main characters and some ties with major Fallout 3 and New Vegas characters and stories. Since there isn't much information about how the nuclear bomb-blasted Washington, D.C. area dubbed "The Capital Wasteland "was before Fallout 3, I decided to insert my own creativeness. In The Beginning, the Capital Wasteland is still primitive and simple: energy technology and futuristic medicine is rare to many people and the D.C. ruins are ignored completely by the sane walking people since the metro tunnels had not been cleared out by scavengers yet. I've tried to make the basic plot of Fallout appealing to people who haven't played the games that much, since most of the characters and story-line are new to everyone who reads. Only true fans will understand some of the characters, background stories, foreshadowing and inside jokes that are sprinkled throughout the fanfiction.

The main character is Jace Marston, a content and somewhat timid boy who grew up in a bomb shelter after a large nuclear world war called the Great War ended the country of the United States in fire. The reader will soon learn that the "vault" Jace lives in is based off of a perfect Utopian society, and it is home to many secrets, as all other vaults are.

As the story continues and Jace is thrown into many violent situations, his personality changes and becomes at home to the outside world of the Capital Wasteland, where everyone has ended a life and those who do it are celebrated and those who do it more are called raiders. I based the Marston last name off of another original piece of video game culture: Rockstar's Red Dead Redemption. The main character in that game is a rugged father with a past full of violence. All he wants is that life to end and the other peaceful chapter to begin, but due to his own ego, he is brought back into the land of guns and betrayal and eventually loses the support of his family.

Family and togetherness is the basis of my Fallout series of Fanfiction. Family, and anything else resembling it is a constant theme throughout the series, as all of the characters spend most of their time together. As with real life, being alone is never good for you, and whenever you are, it's never a good sign.

All the character's of the story know this, not just the major ones. The raider faction of the Washington D.C. area relies heavily on that. The main enemy of the first part of the story are human's, unfortunately. These people use the strength of numbers against our three main characters, and they will have to deal with it, one way or another using the many colorful fight scenes spread out between chapters.

But the story isn't all just cracking heads and shooting raiders. Another reoccurring theme in my series is Sanity and Social Interaction.  
Since the three main characters find themselves as friends early off in the story, they will often find themselves sharing intimate thoughts and issues with each other, whether it is in the town bar or just out on their jobs. Since realism is some-what important to me in my writing, I've taken into consideration what constant arguments with the same people coupled with almost dying on a weekly basis will have on a normal person, that's where the theme Sanity goes into place. Unfortunately, not all our characters have spent their entire lives being shot at and murdering, but some actually have, and that's where their problems arise in the form of character contrasts. Throughout the story, the character's mental health will deteriorate and at times, change their ego entirely. As with many normal people, they will look for ways to cope with knowing the fact they will have to be beaten up and kill someone again. Our three characters will use alcohol, drugs, and food to escape the insanity of their lives. And when they don't work, our character's will see a problem within themselves. Their mental stages will change, and at times, they will ignore the fact that they brutally murdered someone and just laugh at it. This will be noticed by the characters, and that's where Social Interaction comes in as a theme. Just because the three start off as friends doesn't mean they will stay that way for the duration of the story. They will find out each other's flaws and point them out, especially when their morals are in question and their decision making skills differ. They will fight, they will argue, and at times, they will hate each other completely. You will have to read to find out where that road leads for them. When you start to think you wouldn't have made that decision, or you have no idea why something happened, you will know what point our characters have crossed on the plane of Sanity.

Since the story is based from Jace's point-of-view, that doesn't mean he is the only person out in the Wasteland. As I've explained before, he will be accompanied by his two friends, Joe and Victoria, along with a myriad of original characters with recognizable Fallout 3 characters. Joe is the comic relief of the group, and starts off as a sarcastic and tired young man with a taste for beer. As the story develops, Joe does as well. His taste for drinks will intensify and his sarcastic remark at the end of a harsh fight will become a fondness of intense situations and dramatic encounters. This aspect, along for his sarcastic way of coping through situations will be pointed out by his friends and set up for a cross-examination throughout the story. The other main character is Victoria. As Joe's longest friend, Victoria keeps her childish friend in check and serves as the babysitter for our main characters. But she is not without fault. The mother figure of the story has a rough upbringing-one that is shared with Joe. After the experiences of her childhood, she has developed some natural distrust of strangers. This distrust will turn into paranoia of anything and anyone as the story grows deeper and the stakes grow larger.

But these three aren't the only people that are examined in the story. The main antagonist, Chain, will be present throughout the first part of the story, since he is the sole leader and organizer of the raiders in D.C. Sharing a history with the three main characters, he will be the force that brings them together and the force knocking down their walls as they settle a decade long dispute that will survive through generations. You will learn more about Chain in the story, along with his reasons for doing what he does. More characters are the supporting character of Jace, Rachel. Serving as Jace's childhood best friend and mirror of Jace's youth, Rachel will be seen as the perfect person in the eyes of everyone, including her father, the omniscient leader of the vault or "Overseer". This perfectness will pose a problem to Jace and will be seen and analyzed further throughout the story. More minor characters are Chip, the childhood bully, Jab, the bar-tending ghoul that the characters will later hate as their personalities change, Moira, the quirky, weird owner of the town store, Lucas Simms, the egotistical sheriff/mayor-when-the-need-arises, Doc Hill, the under-qualified doctor with a crush on Victoria, and Michael, the super-fan of Joe who might have a man-crush. These characters will either be supporting small characters, or one time boss fights for the chapter. These comical and understandable characters will help create the air of "no more society bars" that Fallout is known for, along with setting Joe, Victoria and Jace on their way to defeat Chain.

But just because the main story is set in stone doesn't mean there are going to be setbacks. Just like the video game, these setbacks are going to be called "Side-quests", and the three characters will have to do them for their own reward, whether it be information, or personal need. These side quests include giving someone a gift, passing time in a hospital visit, or preparing for an attack. There will be times where the characters are forced into ridiculous situations that they don't want to be in, and they will express that with colorful language; verbal or body. Unfortunately, these situations will result in permanent injury or death for some or many of the characters of The Beginning. These favors won't always be completed, and the characters will definitely decline them when they don't feed they have to do them. This will leave problems lingering throughout the story, and consequences for either accepting or declining these side missions. Remember, they're human. They can't do everything on their plate and that's something you have to keep in the back of your mind when you read this story. Other people will have to finish what Joe, Jace, and Victoria started because they won't always be around in the Capital Wasteland to do these things. Readers of my first story "The End", will understand that.

I will always be lurking around this site, so make sure you give me feedback on where the story is going or where you think I went wrong in the PMs or reviews. I love talking to people and explaining why I wrote what I wrote. I hope you enjoy the Prequel to The End and please let me know how you feel. Thank you so much for giving this story a chance and I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!


	2. Chapter 1

Kole Bailey

July 2nd, 2012

Fallout: The Beginning

**PART 1**

**Chapter 1: 101**

"It is the year 2151. A war hundreds of years ago plunged the world into nuclear chaos, killing everything and sparing no one. We survived only because of vaults: underground bomb shelters used to protect people from the blast above. They worked and we have sustained ourselves ever since. Sure, our numbers have decreased, but we're still alive down here, right?"

"I don't know about you, Mr. Douglas, but I'd like more room, Jace smells awful." I looked at Chip with hate as he made his insult.

"Hahaha, you're the funniest." I muttered.

"Now, now Chip. Let's take care not to make fun of other students, shall we?"

"Sure thing Mr. Douglas."

"Continuing with my lesson, from what our records show, the country of China nuked The United States of America around 2070 in the most popular cities. This includes a city called New York and Washington D.C. which is the area surrounding our vault. Since a bomb hit here, the Overseers across our time here deemed it unsafe to reopen the vault due to the possibility of a contamination in the air."

"Bullshit." Someone said.

"He says it's for your own good guys." A girl's voice informed.

"Aww, that's nice, daddy's girl." Chip said grinning.

"Shut up, Chip." The bell rang and we all clamored our books together to get up.

"Wait a moment Rachel. You too Jace." Mr. Douglas called us over to his desk.

"Don't take Chip seriously you guys, you now he's having a hard time with his family issues. He doesn't get the attention that he needs from his parents anymore."

"Yeah, we're all aware of his mommy problems" Rachel said sarcastically.

"I'm glad it's not bothering you, and it shouldn't. Have a nice day now, you two." Rachel and I walked out of the classroom to get lunch.

"Do you believe Chip? It's hard enough being who I am without him adding insults on top of it."

"Everyone knows Chip is a little girl under all those half-baked insults. I'm pretty sure he knows it too." I told her. Rachel and I walked to lunch with the other six students and sat down at a lunch table. I looked down at my tray. The rations we had were what we've always eaten: insta-mash and steak. I sighed as I ate the bland food.

"What's wrong, Jace? Chip didn't get to you, did he?"

"Chip's not getting to anyone, especially the girls around here." Rachel laughed at that.

"It's just... don't you think there's something else we could do here? With the vault, I mean. Maybe we could get more food somehow... I don't know."

"I totally understand, I asked my dad the same thing, 'but this is life here. We might be the only people left living in the world, and we're trying to make the best of it'." She quoted her father.

"Yeah, I feel like a real savior of humanity." I sighed as I forked the rubbery meat.

"You know there are times I think that nothing even happened out there, that the bombs didn't even hit, and everyone can't free us from out there. I just want to know, dude." Rachel told me.

"I wish we could, maybe your father could let us leave the vault, explore."

"You know my father; he's stubborn and fixated on the 'saving of our vault'. I just wish he'd let us decide." The bell rang and Rachel and I walked out for our next class.

"No its fine, fascism always works." I said sarcastically.

"Welcome back, kids." Mr. Douglas smiled as we walked inside and sat back down in our seats.

"I hope this time our fellow students won't interrupt my lesson today." Mr. Douglas glared at Chip.

"How dare they, Mr. Douglas?" Chip pounded his fist on his desk in faux fury.

"This is important, people. When a student reaches the age of 16, he or she must take the G.O.A.T. or the Generalized Occupation and Aptitude Test to show what their priorities are in the vault when they get older. If you guys don't take this seriously, you might end up in the reactor level, working with the pipes when you were made to be a doctor."

"Or get stuck with your job." Chip said quietly.

"So it is _my job_ to present these questions for you, so you can live happy and productive lives. Everyone has a job to do and we're going to find out what it is."

Mr. Douglas handed out paper to us, and everyone got started on it. The first question: who is the supreme leader of this vault, the person who we have everything to thank for, including our lives? I rolled my eyes and wrote "The Overseer". I heard Chip sigh when he read it. The next question was when I started to get confused. I read it and it asked: You want to play a prank on your father, who is out of the room, so you sneak into his private bathroom and... a blank followed afterwards. I read the question over and over. Why am I being asked this? Mr. Douglas looked at me and nodded his head. I looked at my classmates, who also were startled by this question. I poked Rachel's black hair with my pencil and asked her if she understood it. She didn't. I started to think about the question being asked. What would I do? After some thought, I wrote my answer. I read the next question. It was similar to the last. It read: You found a lost boy in the lower levels of the vault. He is afraid, but also appears to be in possession of stolen property. What do you do? More questions formed instead of answers. What does this have to do with job placement? How often do children commit grand thievery and get lost in the process? I scratched my head and thought about my answer. He's just a kid, but he also stole from someone. What should I do with him? I made a decision. I'll take him out of the lower levels, but confiscate the stolen property. After I wrote it down, I felt bad for what I did. The feeling ambushed me; I've never felt this way before, then again, I've never thought about these things.I couldn't think this way, it was impossible for me. I got stuck on the next problem, and a few seconds after I wanted to rip my paper in half, Rachel got up.

She got up to hand her paper into Mr. Douglas. When she reached his desk, my classmates looked at her as if she said something to them. She gave her paper to Mr. Douglas and he smiled. She then sat back down. Frank, a classmate of ours asked how she was already done. She told him it was easy after a while. He told her he was still on the third one. She shrugged. I sat in my desk for what seemed like an eternity until the bell rang. Rachel and I were going to do what we always did at the end of the day, go to the doctor's office to see my dad and grab a bite to eat afterwards. On the way there, I asked Rachel about the practice test.

"How did you finish that fast? I had to give fake answers just to finish in time."

"I don't know it seemed natural after a while. You just had to think." She told me.

"Thanks for the compliment. That test is going to be impossible for me tomorrow. Hey, are you going to the self-defense class today?" I asked.

"Not today. Why, are you?"

"As much as I would like to kick Chip's teeth in, it's not going to be fun not having someone laugh with me about it afterwards." We laughed and continued down the hallway to my dad's office.

Rachel and I walked into dad's office. He was giving medicine to Stew, who has been sick with a cold from working in the reactor levels. I approached him my father.

"Hi Jace. Hello Rachel."

"How goes it dad?"

"Things could be better, Jace. The medicine we have here is becoming ineffective to people. I need something stronger."

"Anything we could do to help?"

"There's nothing you can do. This medicine is 200 years old; no one can make it better."

"Sorry to hear that Jim." Said a voice from behind me. We turned around to see The Overseer standing in the doorway, listening in on the conversation.

"I know things here aren't the best, but we're trying to make do. I've been trying to come up with a plan to help the vault, we'll see if it's ready soon." The Overseer walked out of the office and all three of us stared at each other.

"What was that about?" Rachel asked.

"I'm not sure." I said with a puzzled look on his face.

"Be safe you kids, it sounds like there's change brewing in this vault." My dad said, returning to his desk. Rachel and I walked out of the office and towards the diner so we could eat.

"What do you think he meant, with his 'plan'?"

"I don't know, but I'm getting worried about my father. He's changed so much when he became Overseer. He barely talks anymore, and he's aged so much." Rachel looked worried after saying this.

"Don't worry, your dad's smart. He'll straighten up when things start to calm down and this 'plan' comes into action."

"I hope so."

We were almost to the diner when we met Chip in the hallway. He turned towards Rachel and walked towards her.

"Hey Rachel." Chip smiled, trying to act friendly.

"What do you want, Chip?" Rachel seemed more annoyed by him than usual.

"I just wanted to say sorry, for the jokes I mean, you know it's a joke, right?"

"Oh please, get away from me Chip."

"We're just trying to get some food, Chip." I interrupted.

"Stay out of this, kid, unless you want me to beat the hunger out of you."

"Wow, cool. So apparently you're not here to apologize, huh?" I asked myself out loud.

"Can't you see we have somewhere to be?" Rachel told Chip.

"Fine, I don't need an ugly chick like you anyway." Chip said, trying to encourage himself.

I looked at him angrily, and then at Rachel. Her face said 'don't do it', but I couldn't let what happened happen. I turned Chip around. "Apologize for what you just said." I ordered.

"Why? Her dad's a failure, and she's no less! Her family screwed everyone in here!" Chip shouted.

"Hey, what's going on? Break it up!" Security intervened. They broke up the argument and sent us on or separate ways. I turned towards Rachel, who looked saddened.

"Come on, let's get something to eat." I said, trying to encourage Rachel. We walked into the diner. Rachel and I like eating here because Chip doesn't. We ordered our food and apple desert, which was a nice treat for us. We sat down at a table and asked for our food. We gave Lauren, the girl who works there our ration coupons to eat, and she went to get our meals. In a few minutes she arrived with it.

"So have you seen your dad you do anything out of the ordinary?"

"Most of the things he does now is out of the ordinary, I wouldn't notice it if he did." Rachel looked down at her steak.

"Alright, well we shouldn't worry about it now."

"Yeah, we should worry about the GOAT." Rachel and I finished our steaks and Lauren came by with our desert. As a way to cheer Rachel up, I gave her my desert.

After our food, we both got up and headed for home. The lights were dimmed, which meant it was time to sleep. Rachel and I were about to go our separate ways to our homes when we heard a noise. We turned to see Chip, stumbling over himself, with a bottle and ration coupons in his hand. We tried to ignore him, but he had other plans. He waddled over to us with a gazed look on his face.

"Hey... Reh-Rachel." Chip mumbled.

"I can already tell this is going to end badly. I announced quickly.

"What do you want Chip? We're busy."

"Busy? With this guy?" Chip turned to me. His breath smelled foul, every word was like a blast of rotten food.

"Wh-why do you always...hang out with this guy? What's… wrong with me?" Chip hiccupped.

"He's my friend. You know-something that you're not?"

"Chip why don't you just go back home, call it a night?" I intervened again.

"No, and if you... keep talking to me I'm going to send you home to you pappy with a project for him to work on." Chip was getting irate, although it was hard to tell with his slurry words.

"I… I guess that was a threat. A 'project'? Like, what is that?" I smiled and shook my head.

"Alright." I sighed as I put my hand on his shoulder and smiled. "Chip just calm down an-" Chip punched the side of my head and I stumbled backwards and hit my head on a wall and fell over, dazed.

"Chip!" Rachel screamed.

"That's cool, not like I didn't call it or anything." I mumbled as I felt my jaw.

"Just come out with me, you know you like me." Chip grabbed Rachel's shoulders, squeezing her harder with every word. I had to stop this; I struggled to get up from the blow to my head.

"Chip get off of me!" Rachel grabbed Chip and threw him against the wall. He looked at her in surprise that someone so small could be capable of doing that. He recovered and raised his bottle towards her and swung. I grabbed Chip's arm before he could strike and he dropped the bottle. As it shattered to pieces, I shoved Chip to the ground and punched him as hard as I could, letting out all the rage that has been kept inside me for so long. I continued punching him, blood flying onto my fists.

"If you ever touch her again, I'll kill you! Do you hear me? I'll… I'll kill you!" I roared at him. I got off of him and turned to Rachel. She sat there, terrified. She backed away from me. I reached my hand out to her, and she ran away. My stomach hurt, and my head spun, the same feeling I got when I took the G.O.A.T. I don't know what I just did, but I felt sorry for it. I looked down at Chip, who was knocked out and grabbing his bloody face. I picked him up and carried him to my dad's office. I put him on a stretcher, and my dad look at me and jumped up from his seat.

"Jace, what happened? What did you do?" My father ran to Chip and began examining him.

"He was going to hurt Rachel, and I couldn't let him. I just... I don't know."

"His nose is broken and he's cut up bad. What exactly did he do?"

"He was going to break a bottle over her."

"You mean he was drinking?" My dad didn't seem too surprised.

I looked at him in response to his obvious question.

"You said Rachel was with you, where is she?" Dad cleaned up the blood from Chip's face.

"She ran away. I-I've never seen her like that before."

"It's all right son, Chip will be fine, and Rachel will forgive you. Just give it time." My dad bandaged his nose and cuts and I washed my hands.

"No, no she won't. I honestly don't even know what happened. She's never seen me like that before, and I don't want her to see me like that ever again." I sat down in a chair and looked at my hands. My knuckles were red and bruised.

"Listen to me son, time is what we have a lot of here, and that's more than we can say about what's outside. Your mother wanted you to live a happy life here, and you can do that now."

Chip groaned. I didn't want him to see me when he woke up, so I left. I went home and sat in my bed. I sat there, wondering what my life is even about, why I was even here, living this life. It took me hours to fall asleep.

I woke up to an announcement on my wrist-mounted computer.

"All citizens are to report to the Atrium immediately." I got up and put my blue jumpsuit on and walked out of my door. When I got to the Atrium, a crowd had already formed, and the Overseer was in the middle of it. I walked into the middle of the crown and saw Chip with his bandages on, when he saw that I was looking at him, he turned away.

"Citizens of Vault 101, I speak to you in a time of great need. As you know, our vault has sustained our lives here for generations, and it seems we have a catastrophic problem. Our supply of food and water is dwindling, and we are on the verge of starvation. We have enough food to last us about two years."

The crowd started to chatter, people started shouting and yelling, but was quickly calmed down by our security.

"But I have come up with a plan. A plan that could save us from death." I still didn't understand, but Rachel did. Her eyes flicked from side to side as she put together a complicated puzzle.

"I would like to say that I have failed you as a leader. Slowly as the generations of people passed, we have learned to be too comfortable, too dependent. We have lost the ability to think for ourselves. No longer can the general public think uniquely, and it is not your fault, it's mine. And now, there is only one way this can be fixed." He sighed after this. Rachel looked at the ground and blinked.

"I have chosen through our student body who exactly has the greatest capability to explore the unknown, to save this vault from extinction, to use their mind to look after themselves, and only themselves. Who, from the 'practice' G.O.A.T. testing, can make rational decisions that can keep themselves alive in the world outside. " The crowd talked amongst themselves, but were once again calmed down.

"That person is…"

I looked over to Rachel as her face became pale. She shook her head and looked up at her father, who looked at her.

"Jace Marston." The crowd moved away from me and now I was the center of it. I looked up at him, and then at my peers. Rachel's mouth dropped, and she looked at me. My stomach hurt.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: I'm a Marston**

"Jace, are you willing to plunge our home out of the darkness, and save your loved ones?" I looked to my side and I saw Rachel staring at me, her mouth open, her head shaking slightly. I raised my head.

"I'll… do it." I said with no emotion.

The crowd gasped and was followed by talking. The Overseer raised his hand to quiet the crowd.

"Very well. Meet me in my office to discuss your objective." I turned around and walked out of the crowd that continued to stare at me. I walked into the Overseer's office and saw him sitting in his desk.

"It's a brave thing you're doing." He said to me.

"Yeah."

"It's time to talk about what you're doing exactly. Samples of the air outside by our scientists show that it still is safe to breathe, so you are to go out and find food, supplies and water to bring to us. We will give you the finest equipment we have to do it."

"Alright."

"Follow me to the armory so we can get you suited up." I followed him into a room with armored doors. The Overseer opened it with a keycard. The doors slid open and revealed a wall filled with equipment. The Overseer took weapons and equipment from the wall and put it into a black, single strap pack and handed it to me.

"Keep this pack on you at all times, it's important. It's got medicine for you, and extra ammo for this pistol." The Overseer handed me a holster for the gun and put the pistol in the bag. I put the holster on and put the bag on.

"Meet me at the vault doors when you are ready." I walked out of the armory and through a hallway. I fell against it, with my armor and weapons slumped against me. I was scared, I was sad. I cried and thought about what was happening. And when the last tear drop fell off my nervous face, my brain snapped, and I figured out something that I would learn to hate and love at the same time. I was alone. And my first order of business was blaming others.

I left my home and walked down the hall to the vault doors. There, I saw The Overseer, waiting for me. The Overseer opened the blast door. I pulled him over to talk in his office.

"Yes, Jace? Ready to leave already?" The Overseer asked.

"Why did you lie to me?" I asked.

"Lie to you about what?"

"Why are you trying to have me killed?" I demanded an answer.

"Well, I gave you a gun."

"You're not telling me anything about what I'm doing!" I shouted.

"You're better off not knowing the truth, Jace. There are just some things in here that you can't or won't understand." The Overseer postulated.

We looked at each other. I looked into that liar's eyes and felt like I knew everything there was to know about him.

"Who was _really_ the candidate for this?" I asked him. He seemed to have been caught off guard for the question. He sat in silence.

"It was Rachel, wasn't it?"

No response.

I shook my head and exhaled in anger. "You… coward." "No." He retorted quietly. "You couldn't throw away your own flesh and blood out there, but you could throw _me_ out, no problem?!" I yelled. "No!" He said loudly back. "She's stronger and smarter than I'll ever be and you're too afraid to let her go and do what's right!"

"You leave Amata out of this!" He yelled at me in blind rage.

I looked at him with my eyebrow up. He stared into my eyes, he knew his mistake.

"Who the hell's Amata?" I asked him.

There was more silence as The Overseer sat down in his chair. The rumble of machinery in the door behind us rattled as it slid open. Rachel walked through the door.

"What's going on?" She asked.

"Nothing." I said dryly.

Rachel pulled me aside and held me by my shoulders. She looked into my eyes, hers were as red as mine. She had been crying, too.

"Why?" She asked.

"Why what?"

"Why are you going out there and throwing your life away?"

"Rachel..."

"Answer me." She seemed angry.

"Do you know why I did what I did to Chip? He was going to hurt you, maybe worse, and now everyone, including you, are in danger. What choice do I have? You know me more than anyone else, how can you even ask that question? I _have_ to." My voice was stern, but she understood.

"'Have to'? Or 'Want to'?"

"The only thing I _want_ is for you to be safe, for my dad to be safe, because our moms weren't. Now they're gone and I don't want that to happen again." I walked away from Rachel and went inside my home. My father was sitting there, waiting for me.

"We need to talk, son." My father said. His jumpsuit was off, and he was wearing an old leather jacket over a white t shirt and boxers. He didn't face me as we talked.

"Talk about what?"

"I tried so hard to keep you safe, but now, there's nothing I can do about it. It's in _your_ hands. And before you go out there and make something of yourself like I know you will, I have to tell you everything… everything… All your life, I've been lying to you."

"What?"

"Your teacher says the vault has been closed for hundreds years. He's wrong."

"How?"

"There is life out there, there are still survivors, and we were living among them. When your mother had you, we decided this isn't the life we wanted for you, we wanted you safe. We searched almost every vault in D.C. All of them were empty, destroyed at times. When we finally discovered this vault was here, you were four we started heading towards it. That's when we were attacked. Raiders wanting to murder us and steal our supplies. They shot me and I was bleeding out with you in my arms. The leader, a young guy, they called him Chain grabbed her. He took her...h-he took Cindy and he... " I placed my hand on his shoulder.

"They left us to die afterwards. I managed to get up and crawl into the vault's outer chambers. I begged The Overseer to let me in on my dying breath. He only did it because I was with you. She wanted you to be safe, she didn't want this for you, to go back out to the same place she died in. And when he opened those doors, the raiders poured in, and since Rachel's mother was head of security… she got taken, too."

"I thought they died in a riot here."

"It _was_ a riot. Just not in the sense that you thought."

"Like mom, I have to do this to save the ones I love."

"It's not that black-and-white, son. You're a child."

"I have a chance to do something with myself and I'm doing it. There's nothing you can do about it... Goodbye dad, I love you." I hugged him, and he just sat there, empty inside as his bloodline was detached from his forever. I walked to my dresser and packed extra clothes and put them in my bag. I walked down the halls to the blast door, where Rachel was waiting for me.

"What are you doing here?" I questioned.

"I just wanted to see you off, say goodbye and good luck." She hugged me.

"Please be safe." She whispered.

"I promise."

"There's going to be change here, I swear it. We don't have live in secrets anymore." I added.

I walked out the blast door and it opened up into a small tunnel. I grabbed my pistol and put it in the holster and followed the tunnel until I saw light. I gasped and swallowed hard.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Escape!**

I followed it until it opened up into a large room with a giant blinding light in the middle of it. I covered my eyes with my hand until my eyes adjusted to it. The light bulb was bigger than I thought; I couldn't see the wall it was put on. I was too busy focusing on the light that I didn't notice people were watching me. Someone smacked me in the back of the head and I fell over. I looked up and three men were staring at me and were wearing weird clothing and carrying weapons. One jumped on top of me and pulled out a knife and held it up to my neck.

"A vault dweller, huh? Chain would sure like this one" I recognized that name and I needed answers right then and there.

"Where's Chain?" I demanded.

"You're in no position to demand things, my friend. The only thing you should demand is for a quick death... and some fighting skills. You kind of suck at this." The raider raised his hand and brought it down. I grabbed his wrist as he pushed the knife lower and lower. I grunted as the knife slowly approached my neck. The raider clearly had an advantage in strength. The tip of the knife touched my neck and started to stab my strained, veiny neck. My muscles were in agonizing pain in my hopeless attempt to keep the raider at bay. My arms were about to give out when a raider behind him was shot. I pushed him off of me and took out my pistol and shot him until all the bullets left the gun, leaving it empty. The other Raider took out a gun and aimed it at me. I thought he was going to kill me when a woman came out from behind me and punched him so hard he flew into a wall. She had long brown hair and dusty clothes; she looked around my age, but acted very mature. I aimed my gun at her.

"I don't know if you've noticed, but we just saved your life." She said as she crossed her arms.

"We?"I was confused. At that moment I felt something jab at my back.

"Yes. We." A man said.

"S-Stay away from me. Both of you." I ordered.

"Nah." The male told me from behind.

"I don't like having a gun in my kidneys." I said.

"Well if you like, I'll put it up your ass, whatever you prefer." The man said back.

"You're planning on shooting him in the ass?" The woman asked her partner.

"Yeah. That ought to hurt."

"How would you like it if _you_ were shot in the ass?" She asked him.

"Listen, if I get shot in the ass, I want our friend here to take the bullet out for me." He motioned as he poked my back with his rifle.

"Alright, let's just chill. We'll lower our weapons if you lower yours." The woman assured. I looked down to see her weapon, but she didn't have one, just a gauntlet on her hand. After seeing what she did to the raider, I didn't want to try her. I lowered my gun and so did the man. He walked from behind me and stood next to the woman. He was wearing a stained red cloth wrapped around his head with dirty beige clothes and a satchel with a rough, brown beard and unkempt hair.

"You see? We're friendly." The woman nodded.

"Who are you people?" I asked.

"This is Joe, and I'm Victoria. We're from Megaton." She pointed to the horizon and I spotted a black figure.

"He doesn't know what that is, haven't you noticed? He's a vault dweller." Joe said, pointing at my jumpsuit.

"You don't know where you are, huh? Well, welcome to The Capital Wasteland!" Victoria shouted, raising her arms up in the air.

"This place sucks." I sighed as I looked around the dusty room.

"So, there's people living in there, I thought they all died, all the people in the other vaults did." Joe had an amazed look on his face.

"We thought the same thing about people out here. Well, most did." I said, looking back at the tunnel.

"So, why are you going out here, then?" Victoria inquired.

"We're running out of supplies." I responded.

"And they only sent you?"

"Yes."

"Well it's official, our friend here's half-retarded." Joe joked.

"Well, if you're looking for food, you should come with us to Megaton, it's a town some people built made entirely out of scrap. If you're a hipster, you'll love it." Victoria assured.

"I love it already." I said sarcastically.

"Oh yeah, what's your name?" Joe asked.

"It's Jace." I introduced myself.

"Well, nice to meet you, Jace." Joe smiled as he patted me rather hard on the back. I followed the two down an open path called a 'road' and asked them questions about The Capital Wasteland. Apparently, the big light bulb isn't actually a light bulb, it's called a 'sun', and it's not on a wall, in fact, there aren't any walls at all. The 'sky' as they called it, is endless. We followed the weathered away road until it led to some walls stacked high. I found out that they were homes. I asked Victoria why they didn't make the town here and she said that the houses were useless and burnt up, and it turned out, all of them were. Some were even completely demolished by the blast. I also asked them what a 'vault dweller' is, and they just told me it was a nickname for people living in vaults. After my questions subsided, the two started asking me what it's like in the vault. I told them about Overseers and how we got food with ration coupons. Joe laughed at the thought of Overseers in the Wasteland and Victoria told me they used paper currency out here, like they did years ago, before the bombs hit. Joe asked me how big the vault was, and I felt compelled to answer. I told him about the diners, the atrium, and how my dad was a doctor and how he wanted me to be one. He called me lucky, because the doctors out here barely use sterile tools and lack experience. Joe told me a story about how he was shot in a fight and had to go to a doctor to get the bullet out. Victoria laughed and told me how he screamed like a girl when they pulled it out.

Eventually, we made it to Megaton, at a time when the sun disappears and it gets dark. Victoria called it a 'sunset'. The town looked fascinating. A giant rusty door powered by a spinning fan opened upwards when the guards saw us, and the three of us walked in. I've never seen so much darkness, only when I slept. I asked Victoria how people live like this. She told me it marks the time when people should sleep. When she told me that, she remembered that we have to get to bed. They purchase a place to sleep in a place called a bar, which is a place to get food and drink, and apparently beds. We walked into the town, which looked empty in the darkness and walked towards the center, where I could make out a light. We walked up some metal stairs, which creaked and bent with every step. As we approached the bar, I could hear faint talking inside the building. As we opened the door, the faint talking turned out to be a large group of people drinking and partying. We walked in and heard a raspy voice from a man.

"Victoria, Joe! Welcome back!" The raspy voice called out. We turned to see a man with a cut up face and falling off skin. I gasped and backed away.

"Aw shit, no! Ew, GOD, fuck!" I screamed.

"Nice to see you too, smoothskin. Who's this shit-doucher?" The man asked through his raspy throated sounds.

"His name's Jace. He's a friend we met out in our patrol." Victoria answered.

"Really? A vault dweller, huh? Nice to meet you, I'm Jab." He let out his hand. I pulled out my hand and shook it. His skin felt clammy, and cold. It felt like it was about to fall off.

"Ah, right. Never seen a ghoul before, huh? It's alright; my brother and I get a lot of guff for it."

"I meant no disrespect, I-I just never seen this before." I stuttered.

"Well alright, if you ever feel like you want to berate me, I'll be at the bar counter." Jab nodded. Victoria paid for my room and Jab walked away and started scrubbing the counter with a dirty cloth.

"Don't worry about Jab, that's just his attitude all the time."

"What happened to him?" I asked, still horrified.

"It's the radiation out here, you take in too much, it changes you. Most of the time, your body dies, but you don't. We call it 'ghoulification' out here. Ghouls are everywhere; I heard they even have a whole town of them." Victoria said calmly.

"What's a smoothskin?" I asked.

"It's a nickname ghouls use to call regular people because we made the nickname 'ghouls'. Doesn't hurt as much as calling someone a 'ghoul', but whatever, they're trying." Joe answered.

"I feel like… I feel like that's referencing something." I questioned his choice of words.

"Dunno what you're talking about, cracker." Joe said as he took a drink to his mouth.

"It's late, we should get some sleep." Victoria said to us.

She showed me to my room, which was upstairs and right next to Joe's. I creaked open the door and looked inside. It was cramped and had a bed with stained sheets and a dresser. It wasn't like home, but it'll have to be for now. I sat down in the bed and took off my holster belt and my pack and set them on the dresser. I lie down in the bed and put the sheets over me. I fell asleep easily.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Different**

I woke up in the morning, with the sun shining through the old metal in the wall. I then got up and put my gear on, ready to see what the outside had to offer. I walked downstairs and saw Joe and Victoria sitting at the bar, eating. They turned around and said good morning. I sat at the bar stool next to them.

"How'd you sleep?" Victoria asked.

"Good enough." I replied.

"Don't mind the stains, you'll get used to them. And don't try to think about what they are, too." Joe said. Victoria elbowed him in the ribs.

"Good morning, smoothskin. What'll you have?" Jab asked.

"Get him what we're having, Jab." Victoria requested. She handed him the 'money' as she called it and Jab handed me a bowl. It was a greenish-yellow water and had bits of food floating in it.

"It's mole rat stew. Try it." Victoria assured. I took a wooden spoon Jab gave me and took a sip. It tasted mildly sour, but went down well enough. I finished the bowl and gave it to Jab to wash.

"Hey Jab. I want to say I'm sorry about last night, I just didn't know, I'm still getting used to things out here." I expressed.

"It's all right kid, I guess you didn't know any better. Thanks for being nice about it, and not yelling at me like other people." Jab nodded.

"Oh yeah, that reminds me Doctor Whatisthat, we got to get you some new clothes." Joe said.

"W-Was that another reference? And why?" I asked.

"Otherwise people will think you don't know anything about the Wasteland with that… thing on you." Joe informed me.

"Isn't that what people think of you?" I joked around.

"Wow, we've known each other for eight hours and you're already insulting me? Cool, dude." Joe said, putting his arms up.

"As rare as it is, Joe's right. People will think you don't have Wasteland smarts if you run around with that on." Victoria said as she tapped my jumpsuit. I flinched.

Joe and Victoria finished their food soon after and we got up and left the bar. We walked down the rickety stairs and Victoria pointed out the general goods store. We walked inside of it. Inside, there was a woman with red hair sitting at the counter with weapons and clothing behind her. She looked up at us.

"Hey guys! Who's your friend?" The clerk said with a cheery tone.

"Morning, Moira. He wants some clothes, as you can see; my friend here is in need of some fashion sense." Joe said as he laughed. Victoria rolled her eyes. I looked at my jumpsuit with the vest over it and shrugged.

"Of course, of course, let me see..." Moira said as she examined my structure.

"Here we go; I've got something for you." She laid out some clothing on the counter.

"We'll take it." Victoria said with a nod. She gave her the money and took the clothes and we left. We made our way back to our rooms at the bar. I asked Victoria what these where called. She pointed out a dusty white shirt, some faded and dirty brown pants or another name was 'jeans', faded brown sneakers, and a green over shirt, which she said is supposed to go over my white shirt. Joe was upset after I put them on correctly because he wanted to see me change into them in the wrong way. I told them I knew how to put on clothes; it's just like a jumpsuit, just separated, I wasn't stupid. I walked into my room and put them on. I walked out and looked at my new clothing.

"See? Now you look normal." Victoria smiled.

"I could pull off the look better." Joe shook his head. He took another elbow to the ribs by Victoria.

"Alright now that you're Wasteland savvy, we can talk to the mayor to get your vault some food." Joe said.

"Mayor?" I asked.

"Kind of like an Overseer, just with much less power." Victoria informed me.

"_Much_ less. From what I heard, it's kind of… communist-y there." Joe added.

"Alright, let's go." I said. The three of us walked downstairs and left the bar. We walked towards a building that looked grand considering it is made out of scrap metal and knocked on the door. Inside was a man sitting at a desk with a duster and curved hat, sporting a weapon that looked stronger than mine. He looked like a cowboy from the vault comic books.

"Something happen on the patrols you two? Who's this?" The mayor said. He had a gruff and deep voice.

"No, just some raiders like always, that's where we picked up this guy. He's a vault dweller, says he needs some food." Joe said to the mayor.

"Well, howdy. The name's Larry Simms. I'm the mayor here and sheriff too, if the need arises." The mayor said.

"Rehearses that line to himself every freakin' day. It's weird." Joe whispered.

"I'm Jace." We shook hands and he examined my clothing.

"So you guys bought him some clothes? Why's that?" Larry asked.

"We were wondering if he could help us on our patrols to pay for the food." Victoria told the mayor.

"And the clothes." Joe mumbled.

"How much food are we talking about here?" Larry asked.

"We need food and water for about 75 people." I explained.

"That many people in that vault, huh? I thought there'd be more." Larry sat back in his chair.

"So can you do it for me?" I asked.

"We're going to need something more for this...partnership. What are your skills?" Larry questioned. I told him about my minor medical experience along with the self-defense training I had along with the classes that I took in the vault.

"Well, you have more experience in medicine than most, and you can fight. Patrolling the outer city will be a good job for you. As for this water situation, our town is having a water problem as well. It seems that the purifier isn't working to its full potential, why don't you head out to the water plant and help out over there. You start patrols tomorrow. Victoria and Joe will tell you when they are ready to patrol."

"Thank you Mr. Simms." I nodded.

"Call me Larry." He said back.

"Don't… don't call him Larry." Joe whispered.

The three of us walked out of the building and Victoria pointed me to the water plant. This is where we went our separate ways, because they had to go and prepare for their patrols for the night. I walked across the town and made my way to the plant. The door had a sign on it that said it was the water plant and I walked in. A young man with brown hair and a shaved beard greeted me on the way in.

"So, what brings you here?" The man asked.

"Larry Simms sent me here to help out." I answered.

"Well what do you know about piping, son?"

"I know a decent amount of maintenance."

"Good enough for me." The man walked me over to some rusty pipes and pointed to them.

"We've got a problem in the piping, when the radiated water passes through, this pipe is supposed to purify it, which it's not. I thought we could take it apart and see what the problem is, but that would cut off the town's water supply and I don't know if I could get it back together."

"It purifies the water? Well then inside there should be a bunch of metal work, probably rusted as well as the pipes. It's probably jamming and just letting some of the irradiated water go through, while leaving some purified. If that's the problem, than we should definitely cut off the water, because the people could get poisoned by it."

"Any plan's better than none." The man shrugged.

We took out the pipe and unhinged the bolts. Inside, the metal work was lodged and letting some water flow out, like I said. We replaced it with a new one and put the pipe back together. The old man tested the water afterwards.

"Well I'll be. You fixed the water! I could learn a thing or two from you! Here, take this, dude. It's the least I could do." The man gave me some money and I looked at it in my hand. This is the first time I've touched money before. It felt rough, but also had some smoothness in it. I smiled and said thanks.

"Hey, what's your name, kid?" The man asked.

"It's Jace."

"Well thank you, Jace, you just helped out the town a whole lot. By the way, I'm Walter."

"Nice to meet you, Walter." I nodded.

I walked out of the plant. The sun set again and it seemed darker before than yesterday, although I could see pink light on the horizon. My eyes strained to see things in the dark; I could barely make out the bar. I shuffled my feet over to the building and went inside. I opened the door to the bar and saw a circle of people who were shouting, something more unusual than what I saw there yesterday. I walked to the center where two men were fighting. One was using random objects to beat the other. Blood was flying everywhere, staining into the rusted metal on the floors. He got on top of him and started punching and cursing at him. Blood was all over the man's arms as he punched angrily. This sight felt familiar to me, and hurt my stomach and head. I remembered Chip and I. I looked closer at the other man who was getting beaten by the other.

It was Jab.


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Natural**

I ran into the circle of people and pulled the man off of Jab and punched him in the face. He was clearly stunned and he stumbled back. I picked up Jab and sat him in the chair quickly as he fell over himself, panting. I yelled at the man.

"What's the matter with you? Leave him alone!" I shouted.

"That damn ghoul messed up my drink and that ugly piece of trash has the audacity to talk back to me!" The man shouted.

"Holy shit, I had no idea you could contemplate words like 'audacity'. Congrats." I tested him.

"Contemplate _this_!" He yelled.

The man regained his balance and ran at me. I moved to my side, held out my arm to the side, and in front of him, and kicked his back legs. He dropped to the floor and got up quickly in a huff, and started at me.

"Really? 'Contemplate _this_'? Work on your fighting lines, dude, that was just sad." I insulted.

He punched me in the face and I drew blood from my nose. I felt the blow in the back of my head. The man then turned his attention to Jab, who is spitting blood onto his counter. The man grabbed Jab's neck and threw him over the counter. I ran to them man, kicked him in the back of the knee, making him stumble, and threw his face backwards into the floor. The man smacked his head into the metal floor and I got on top of him, the burning feelings in my body raging as I kept seeing Chip's face. I kept punching him in the face until I couldn't see the white of his teeth anymore. I grabbed him by the shirt and brought him close to my face.

"You listen to me and you listen good, because I am not repeating myself. You leave him alone, and you leave all ghouls alone. Tell your friends this, because I'm not doing this again." I told him.

I punched him as hard as I could in the face and he fell back on to the floor. He grabbed at his face and moaned while I got up off of him. I turned to see Victoria and Joe staring at me. This Deja Vu turned out to be different, because Joe was laughing hysterically, while Victoria was smiling and clapping. I helped Jab from the floor and sat him down at a stool.

"You all right Jab?" I asked, sniffing and wiping the sweat off of my brow with my sleeve.

"Nothing that won't heal, or fall off the bone that is." He giggled for a moment, and then broke out into a cough.

"I don't even know what the cuts are and what your normal face is, Jab."

"Pfft. Funny." He sighed with a semi smile.

I grabbed a cloth and ran it in the water. I told him to leave it on his face and put pressure on it until the bleeding stops. Joe and Victoria came up to me.

"That was great, kid! I've never seen anything like it!" Joe said, still laughing.

"What was that all about anyway, why all the anger?" Victoria asked.

"I don't know. I'm just tired." I shook my head.

"Whatever it is, it's great! You'll have the raiders shaking in their boots with that stuff!" Joe exclaimed.

"So what are you guys doing here? Shouldn't you be patrolling?" I asked.

"We kind of had a problem, we'll tell you about it later." Joe shook his head.

"Did you fix the water problem?" Victoria asked.

"Yep, it was a simple problem; the guy there just needed another person."

"Good, the mayor will pay nicely for that." Joe said.

"Actually, the guy there already paid me." I showed them my money.

"Nice, now you get a bonus." Joe hushed with his finger, as he tried to take my money. Once again, elbowed by Victoria.

"Now that you have some money, we're going to have to teach you how to use it." Victoria said. We went upstairs to Victoria's room and we sat down in her chairs. Her room was bigger than mine, with a bigger bed. She noticed me admiring her room.

"Once you get some more money, you can pay for a better one." Victoria ensured.

She asked me for my money and I gave her it. She showed me how the numbers on the money show how many I have, they're called 'bills' and the more I have of a high number bill, the more money I have. It's similar to ration coupons, except one bill isn't worth one unit of money, or 'dollar'. After my lesson and some thought, I found out that Walter gave me 35 dollars. Joe then taught me some Wasteland 'slang' as he called it, and identified all the popular foods that we have along with words and several weapons that the town has available for purchase. He told me about 'shotguns' that shoot several projectiles at close range, also 'rifles' which is what he uses. They are usually long ranged and slow, although some are automatic, which shoot fast, along with other weapons that are frequently used. I pointed to Victoria's gauntlet and asked what it was. It had black metal with scratches on it and a yellow cloth draped around it. Joe said that Victoria found it on a raider and he called it a 'Power Fist' and that the name just stuck afterwards. Victoria then said that after inspection, she found out that it is a pneumatic gauntlet, which meant that it was air powered. The weapon must be pumped with compressed air before a battle, when she punches somebody with it; all of the compressed air is released, adding to the force of the impact. After a basic lesson in what Joe called 'Joe's Guide to Wasteland Knowledge', I went downstairs to eat some food. Jab gave me some mole rat stew for free for what I did. I ate it up and then went to bed and meditated on the things I have learned today.

I woke up fairly easy that day, and went downstairs to have some mole rat stew. This morning, Joe and Victoria weren't down here, so I ate anyway. Jab was antisocial when I greeted him, so I just ordered my food. Jab's cuts stopped bleeding, but were still noticeable on his face… I think. I quickly finished my meal and walked to the mayor's office to collect my award. I walked into his office and he was sitting at his desk, speaking to some guards. When he saw me walk in, he sent them away.

"Hello, Jace. Fix that water problem yet?" Larry asked.

"Yep, it was a simple fix and the water tested out perfectly clean."

"Good. At least something in this town went right. Here's your pay." Larry said as he handed me 50 dollars.

"Thanks!" I said with a smile.

"Now that you solved one problem, I was hoping that you could help with another." Larry said, itching his beard.

"Sure, what's the problem?"

"Joe and Victoria came to me last night with some news. The raiders are planning to launch an attack on the town. I've sent my security out instead of them to foil the attack, but they haven't come back, so I'm sending the three of you and the rest of my security force to protect the town in case the raiders stopped them. Your pay will be triple the normal wage of patrolling the town and we will see about establishing a partnership with your vault. Can you do it?" The mayor pleaded.

Thoughts ran through my head after this. If the security force can't stop them, how can I? I've already seen and heard what raiders are capable of; do I even stand a chance? I need to save the vault, if I die, what would make the mayor want to help everyone in there? If I say no, the vault won't get its food. I had no choice.

"Okay." I said with a nervous tone.

"Great. Meet the security force outside the main gates at sunset." Larry said.

"Sure." I said, I grateful that I knew when that time was.

I said goodbye to the mayor and walked to the store to spend my money. I walked inside where Moira was sitting at the counter. I said hello and saw what she had to offer for my money. Being paranoid and afraid for my safety, I purchased some medical supplies which included hydrogen peroxide, bandages, painkillers and an AED. The purchase cleaned out my newly made money, so I walked back to the bar, where I saw Victoria and Joe eating at the counter. I overheard their conversation.

"C'mon Vee, we got this! We have enough firepower! Plus, Simms said he'd get Jace to help out." Joe slapped her shoulder.

"That's what I'm afraid of; I don't think he's ready for this kind of stuff. He hasn't seen a fight like this before. You remember how he handled himself." Victoria said back.

"You saw the kid fight! He's a natural fighter! Think of this as some practice." Joe said.

I walked towards them.

"And there he is! So kid, did the mayor talk to you about our problem?" Joe asked.

"Yeah he did." I said.

"So what did you say?" Joe asked with anticipation.

"I'm in." I nodded.

"Alright! Let's show those raiders a thing or two!" Joe shouted, raising his beer up.

"You've been drinking?" I asked him.

He looked at me for a moment, confused. "…yeah?"


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Blood**

I ordered some noodles in a bowl and some 'Nuka Cola', which Joe told me was 'soda', or sweetened water with my money. The vault never had soda, and I wondered why. I read the label on the soda and frowned at the irony in the name and took a sip. It tasted delicious! I kept drinking it until I noticed I already drank half the bottle. I started eating the bowl of noodles after my discovery. Out in the Wasteland, the noodles are different. They're soaked in broth, and spicier than the ones in the vault. The ones there were bland, while these actually tasted better, and were spiced. I finished my food quickly and met Joe and Victoria upstairs. I walked into Joe's room and saw them both loading up weapons. Joe's room was much like Victoria's, and had relatively cleaner sheets. Joe was adding extra rounds for his rifle into his satchel and Victoria was reloading a backup pistol and pumping her Power Fist. They turned to me as they cocked their weapons.

"You have extra rounds for your pistol?" Joe asked me.

"Yep." I said. I took out my pack and put the bullets into my pocket. I forgot to reload my pistol after my first fight. After some quick lessons from Joe's Guide to Wasteland Knowledge, I've figured out how to reload my pistol. I cocked back the barrel of the pistol, took out the clip, placed bullets into it, and put it the clip back inside the gun, pushing he barrel pack into the normal position. I holstered my weapon.

"You're learning, kid. One day, we can actually call you a Wastelander. But for now, I guess… regular kid with a butt chin works." Joe said with a smile.

"So how'd you find out what the raiders were planning?" I asked.

"The bodies outside your vault were dragged to a nearby camp. Turns out, those guys were close to Chain, and know he wants revenge. The camp had about twenty or so raiders, after we overheard their conversation, we ran back to town." Victoria explained.

"Yep, it seems your more trouble than you're worth." Joe patted my back.

"We'll see tonight, won't we?" I said, adjusting my holster belt.

"Wow. Haven't even killed a person yet and you're cocky?" Victoria smiled.

Joe sighed and exchanged a look with Victoria. They then both turned to me. "I have a question for you Jace. I've been meaning to ask it." Joe looked into my eyes.

"Yeah, what is it?" I asked.

"When we first saw you at the vault and the raiders talked to you, you said that you knew who Chain. How?" Joe asked. His face was serious, which I've never seen before. Victoria looked at me for the answer as well.

"Well, other than being a total douche-nut, he-" I was interrupted by a gunshot, echoing loudly in the town, making al conversations downstairs end abruptly. We turned towards the exit and heard several more.

"Well that was coincidentally timed." Joe looked at me.

We all sprinted towards the main gates. People ran by us, some of them pushing us out of the way to run from the gunshots. A select few were screaming for their lives. I sighed in annoyance at their yells.

"The sun's still out, why are they attacking?" Joe asked as we clamored down the stairs.

"I don't know, but get your weapons ready!" Victoria said as she got up quickly and held her pistol in her free hand.

I took out my pistol and we all ran to the main gate. It was already opened. Outside, the horizon was a sea of raiders, brimming from left to right. The security force, along with Larry were shooting back and taking cover. The three of us separated and ran for cover. Joe turned to me.

"Get in cover, you idiot!"

I sat behind some rocks and shot at the seemingly endless wave of raiders. "Geez, did you forget how guns work?" Joe teased me. "Now's not the time to annoy each other, Joe!" Victoria screamed over the gunfire. "Uh, nag, that'll get me to fight harder, Vee." Joe sighed in verbal irony as he popped from his cover and shot. The wall of raiders charged all at once, and overwhelmed most of the security force. Bodies dropped, bullets ricocheted off the walls, and then came the worst part. I shot every raider I saw as they rushed towards the gates, shooting their rifles at everything they saw. One raider roared as he ran at me, shooting the rock that I was hiding behind. As soon as the bullets stopped, I popped up from cover and shot at him. Blood splattered on the rocks and on my clothes. I closed my eyes and wiped my face from the blood, sighing and turning my nervous face into a courageous expression. My eyes opened to see a horrific sight, making my courage wither away in the dry wind.

The raiders started to use grenades.

"JOE! MOVE!" Victoria screamed at him as one landed next to him. "I know how grenades, work, Vee!" Joe retorted in a scream as he ran away from it and slid behind an old car. Explosions went off in every direction and shattered my ear drums. I shouted to Joe and Victoria to focus fire on the grenadiers and pointed to them. Victoria turned from her cover to shout something, but a grenade went off and she was caught in the explosion. She flew from her cover, flying through the air, and smacked onto the floor. Her body was out in the open, yet away from the attackers. I sat and stared at her lifeless body in with my mouth open.

It caught us by surprise, what was once an everyday sight for Joe turned into a nightmare as the reality of his situation became apparent. Joe sobered up instantly, and his face changed as he saw her on the ground. He got up to help her but a bullet sparked off his car, keeping him pinned. He screamed something inaudible to my ears as I stared at her. I got up to ran from her, but Larry pulled on my shoulder and shook his head and said something, but I couldn't hear over the firefight and my ringing ears. I pushed him off of me harshly and got up. I left my cover and sprinted to her, bullets whizzing past me. She was face down on the floor and wasn't moving. I flipped her over and Joe ran towards us. Her head was bleeding and was dripping down towards her face. Dirt and ash covered her body. The explosion was close to her, but all her limbs were intact. She started to hemorrhage and spit blood and I scrambled to get my pack off. Bullets popped from the dirt around me.

"Joe! I need you!" I shouted at him. He instantaneously popped out of cover despite the fire keeping him pinned at managed to get a few shots out from his rifle as the raiders turned their attention to him.

I took out my medical kit and poured the hydrogen peroxide on her wounds, while ripping cloth off my shirt to stop the bleeding. I had to get her out of there. I lifted her up and told Joe and Larry to fall back into the city. I started to walk towards the gates, sparks flying off the walls and explosives going off in every direction as the rest of the force was crippled from the massive firefight. I tried to talk to her and get her to listen to my voice, but she didn't respond. Her head bobbed up and down, blood now dripping from her onto my arms. Her skin was cold, her eyes glazed and stuck on mine. I lumbered faster and faster to the gates. I heard a loud noise and looked at my legs. Blood splattered from my left kneecap and left abdomen. I fell to the ground, dropping Victoria to my side. Never in my life would I ever want to feel that pain ever again. The first time I had been shot was so crippling, I shudder to this day when I remember it. I turned and exhaled in panic to see a group of raiders, finishing off the rest of the security force. Larry turned his head to yell, but he was executed on the spot. Joe turned around to me, and stopped running and I looked towards him. I shook my head at him, and pointed to Victoria. Joe's face was confused, but he knew what I wanted to say. I grabbed my wound and groaned in pain as the blood oozed endlessly from me. I turned to the raiders and saw one in the middle that looked cleaner than the rest. I tried to crawl away, dragging blood on the ground. He wore a metal chest piece with an old road sign attached to it and directed his troops into the town. I knew instantly who he was.

The battlefield was dead silent now, with only Joe and I still conscious to understand what was happening. My back on the ground and facing the leader, I turned around. "Get inside." I said quietly through my pain. He looked up at Chain, and then down at me and dragged Victoria into the gates. The townspeople slammed the makeshift gates shut behind them. I scrambled for my pistol and took it out, aiming for his head. He took out a pole wrapped with bicycle chains with an exercise dumbbell attached to the end and swung it at my arm, disarming me and sending my gun flying to the left. I struggled to move onto my stomach and started crawling with my hands and right foot. My blood stained the dirt around me and I tried to hold onto to being awake. I heard laughter from behind me as I lifted up a knee and brought myself up; straining my stomach wound and sending me back down into the ground with a strenuous screech. Sweat was running down my face, my shirt was drenched at the collar.

"Well, well! We have a hurt little puppy, who wants to finish him off?" Chain announced to his men.

"I know you… you're Chain." I said, out of breath.

"In the flesh!" He said with a wolfish grin.

"I—I'm gonna—gonna kill you." I huffed as my face turned pale. I looked at my gun off to the side. "Uh-huh. And how are you going to do that? There's only one of you, and all of us." Chain said, looking around at his men.

"I don't care- long as you're dead… I'm happy." I blacked out for a second and reopened my eyes.

"Why all the hatred, boy? By the looks of it, I'm doing you a favor." He smiled as he pressed his foot on my knee, making me shout out to the skies above. Twenty feet away behind the safety of the walls, the townspeople waited quietly with whatever guns they could find, listening.

"You kill people. You… don't… care who." I choked out. I pointed to him, my arm shaking. I moaned and pulled my arm to my wound.

"Wait a minute; I sense a little personal vendetta here! Let me explain something to you kid…"

"I bet you came out here, ready to kill me, right? Obviously that failed and made you look like a major pussy. That's how this life is lived, hermano; people have dreams and they soon figure out the opposite is going to happen. It hurts, in this case it might kill ya'."

He and his men laughed with him. The adrenaline used to keep me conscious was starting to run out, and my anger was the only thing keeping me awake. I heard the gates open behind me, letting out citizens of the city, armed with weapons. They all ran towards the raiders, shooting them. Chain looked and me and pulled out a pistol. I saw a glint of light flash and then blood splatter from my body. I fell over, coughing up all the blood I had in my body. A puddle of blood surrounded me as I watched Chain run away, unscathed as his men were fighting ruthlessly. Another lowly raider went in to finish the job, but Walter ran to him raider and shot him with a shotgun. The townspeople including Moira and Jab were fighting the remaining raiders with the only weaponry available in the town. My eyes closed and I was choking to death on my own blood. My ears started to fail on me and the sounds of battle turned to booming and echoing sounds, drifting slowly away as my eyes closed, looking up at the sun. That was it for me.

I heard someone run over to me and say that I was going to be okay, but to me, it sounded as if they were intentionally trying to be quiet. I heard him muffle a word to the town doctor and he rushed over. It felt like he checked my pulse. My last sound was someone screaming and cursing at the doctor to help me.

I opened my eyes to a bright and blinding light. I used my hand to cover the light source, as I did when I left the vault. Eventually the light calmed down and I could see again. I studied my surroundings and saw that I was in a room. It was big and spacious and had soft flooring. I looked over and saw a woman standing with her back facing me. I ran over to her and she turned around. She had dark hair that was long and wavy with green eyes. I studied her and then the room and turned back to her.

"Where am I?" I asked her.

"Don't worry, Jace. You're Here. And we need to talk." She said with a soft and elegant voice.

"And where's that?" I asked, confused by her answer.

"It's not your time yet, Jace. They still need your blood." She looked at me, her smile turning to a frown.

"Who are you?" I asked, still confused by her.

"Don't be angry at him." She said.

"Who? Chain?" I asked.

"You're not ready for a lot of things. A victory. A family. A legacy. A bloodline. An end of all things." She said as my confusion grew.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"You may need more than you let on. Keep safe." She said.

"Are you my mother?" I asked, looking into her eyes.

"You need to do it for them. Keep them close, keep him away. All relative, even if out of order." She said.

"But he killed my mother, and he doesn't deserve to win." I said to her.

"Strength, Jace. You're made for a lot of things, but not everything. That's why we have blood." The stoic told me.

I felt a breeze at my back, and turned to see the giant room falling to pieces, being sucked into a vortex. The walls and the flooring ripping to shreds and disappearing into the giant vortex. The breeze grew into a ravaging wind, almost knocking me over with its power.

"You have to go now, Jace. I'll see you sooner than you want to. Happy testing." She said in amidst the giant storm.


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: Again, Again**

I closed my eyes and cover my head from the vortex. I opened my eyes and I was in a room with people surrounding me. I was lying down at a table from the looks of it. I looked towards my body and looked at it, and then felt all the pain of the battle.

"Ah crap, nurse, I don't think his eyes are supposed to be open." A man said nervously. I screamed and tried to breathe in air at the same time. "Oh, he's _definitely_ not supposed to be making that sound!" The man's voice said in alarm.I felt like I was being torn to shreds with knives. A person held me down and told me to stay still. The pain was so excruciating that I felt that I had to move. I continued to scream until I was out of breath. My head was dizzy and I felt I was going to pass out. I looked at my body again as the room spun and my I panted. Blood poured from my stomach and I couldn't feel my leg. I let my head fall back and I blacked out again. "Well that was weird. Care to get some coffee?" The voice muttered. I opened my eyes and saw a man studying me with a ophthalmoscope. I felt tired and hurt, but not as much as before. I looked at the man.

"Ah, you're finally awake! Another fine job by Doc Hill!" The man exclaimed.

"Where am I?" I asked him, my throat hurting and my voice as raspy as Jab's.

"You're in my office in Springvale; your friend brought you here after some nasty fight in Megaton." He told me.

"Springvale?" Once again, confusion was all around me.

"Yep, not too far from Megaton. You're other friend is here, too by the way. A looker, I must say." The man smiled and winked.

"I really hope you didn't take care of her." I muttered.

"I need to see them now." I said, trying to get up. My abdomen ached and I grabbed my wound. I was shirtless and a long bandage covered my lower torso.

"You're not going to be doing anything with your wounds. It's a miracle that you're living. A miracle by me, Doc Hill!" He exclaimed.

"Yeah, I figured out your name, I get it." I said, not amused by his attitude, figuring I just came from being shot by the man that ruined my life.

"You took two bullets in the stomach and one in the leg; you need some time to heal and some medical therapy." He told me.

"I don't need anything right now; I just need to talk to my friends." I said, becoming annoyed by him.

"Ooh, looks like you need more than just _medical_ therapy it seems. Only one of your friends is here, and she's hurt still. Took a nasty blast from a grenade. Almost made her unattractive, but my standards are low, I guess. That and I'm a bless-ed healer." He said, shaking his head.

"I wish I could punch you." I said weakly.

I sighed out painfully and held my stomach wounds. "Is she okay?" I asked.

"She's living, if that's what you mean. But conscious? Nope. Tried slapping her awake, but that just gave me a raging b—"

"Great, so they dumped us here to die then, is that it?" I said, making it clear I was aggravated.

"Sorry friend, but you and your friend have been out for a while now. It's been a few weeks." He said.

"I've been here for weeks?!" I shouted. I tried to get off of the table but my leg felt like I was mutilated at my appendages. I yelped and fell to the floor, keeping my mouth wide open and trying not to scream. Doc Hill picked me up.

"As hilarious as that was to witness, my medical opinion states that there's nothing you can do now with those wounds, just sit here and let them heal."

"Can I at least walk around?" I asked.

"Fine, but don't do anything extreme, like jumping jacks or paragliding, you don't want to break your stitches. To be honest, _I_ don't want you to break your stitches, I made a little smiley face out of them and you'll just ruin it." He said. He gave me some crutches and opened the door.

"I'll send a courier to tell your friend you're awake." Doc Hill informed me.

"Thanks. And thanks for helping me, Doc." I said, slightly regretting the words.

"Not a problem. Not like I get paid in pussy for this job." He said quietly.

"Huh?" I asked him.

"Have a wonderful adventure!" He said loudly as he waved me away.

I crutched outside my room into the hallway. It felt natural using these crutches, because I used to hurt my legs all the time when I was little. I used to play in the atrium of the vault every day, running around it or playing tag with the other kids. Remembering my life in the vault made me hate its lies even more. I moved down the hallway and peered into every room, seeing the various patients. Doc Hill was right, I was lucky. Almost every patient looked as if they were about to die. Eventually I found Victoria's room, where she laid in a bed, with various medicines around her. I sat in her bed and looked at her. Her face still had cuts and dirt around it. The explosion looked like it tore away at her back, because she had bandages all around her torso, but I didn't see any blood. The bandages were around her like a jacket, and looked as if a doctor had put more on after the original. I noticed a bottle of lotion next to her on a nightstand. I raised an eyebrow at it. I noticed that her Power Fist was missing, and not anywhere on her bed. I got up and searched the room, trying to find the weapon to give her at least some sentimental value if she ever wakes up. Every crutch around her room made me feel like I was being shot again and again. Eventually, I gave up and went back to Doc Hill, who was looking at my medical clipboard.

"Have you seen my friend's gauntlet? She had it on her during the battle." I asked him.

"I put it on the desk next to her after I was done-ah… probably hoodlums took it." He said to me.

"Yeah… hoodlums." I said, looking at the room across from us, where a man had an amputation.

"So, how are your wounds?" He asked me.

"Well, they're still wounds." I said sarcastically, confused and a little annoyed by the question.

"HAHAHAAHHAAAAAH!" Doc Hill burst out a laughter so cackling and dry it made me cringe.  
"We'll start your therapy tomorrow, when you can rest on your wounds. Keep up that humor, I almost peed mysel—and I peed a little bit." Doc Hill said as he quickly and awkwardly left the room with a clipboard in hand.

"Alright." I said, sitting back down at my bed.

I lay down in the bed. I thought about my vision. Was it a vision, or was I just dreaming? Was that woman my mother? If she was, why did she tell me to forget about Chain? I need Joe to get here to get the vault its food before they run out, but I also need to kill Chain before he rallies more raiders and takes over the town again. Now I can't do anything about it when I'm in here. I closed my eyes and waited for me to go to sleep; waiting hours trying to find a position that didn't make my body feel like it was on fire. I woke up and got up from the bed. I grabbed my crutches and walked down the hallway. I stopped at Victoria's room and looked inside. I frowned at her state of being and kept walking until I got to the front desk. I saw Doc Hill writing and went up to him.

"Good morning! Ready to start your therapy?" Doc Hill asked.

"Yeah, sure." I said tiredly.

We went to a room in the clinic that was open with different types of equipment. Doc Hill walked me over to a part of the room with a mat on the floor and rails above it. He told me to walk without my crutches and use the rails to balance myself. I gave him my crutches and grabbed the rails. My leg ached and I groaned and fell over onto the mat. The mat smelled horrible so I scrambled up onto the rail and used my left leg to pull myself to my feet. I continued to walk, despite the agonizing pain. My legs started to shake and sweat rolled past my cheek. I started to breathe heavily and put all my weight on my arms. I stopped walking to catch my breath, but my arms gave out and I fell onto the mat again. I moaned and stayed on the mat. "Stand up, you're not—you're not supposed to be on the ground, you know." Doc Hill told me. I caught my breath and stood back up. I finally made it to the end of the railing and turned back to him. He told me to turn around and come back to him. By body screamed for rest as I continued to move across the rails, my arms shaking and my face strained as I made angry faces, as if they would help remove my pain. "Stop doing that, that's weird." The Doctor said with a judging face. This pattern of moving, falling and getting up continued for the next 30 minutes. Doc Hill finally handed back my crutches and said I'm making progress. I didn't respond to him and crutched back to my room. I sat back to on my bed and grabbed my wounds, hoping to stop the pain. Eventually I adapted to them and the pain subsided. I lay down to take another harsh nap.

I woke up and got on my crutches and moved to Victoria's room. I sat on her bed and looked at her. I felt awful about what happened, and wished she can get back up. I heard that people can hear you when you're like this, so I started to talk to her.

"Hey, Victoria..." I sighed, looking to her.

"I'm guessing we won that fight, since we're both here, huh?" I sighed and smile when I looked at her face.

Her face was still and she breathed easily. I waited for a moment, substituting her breathing as a way of talking.

"Look, I don't know if you can hear me or not, but I don't care. I need to tall someone about this; I don't even care if they're unconscious." I said tiredly.

"Come out the closet, come out the closet…" Doc Hill muttered form the doorway in anticipation. I turned around to him and he ran away like a little girl.

I mustered up enough courage and looked down with my eyes closed, saying "I didn't leave my vault to get food for my people or to kill Chain."

"I left because I don't belong there." I said, looking up at the wall.

"I needed to be different so badly that I went out here and did this. I wanted to be different, I wanted to think differently like my friend Rachel. The truth is I'm so adjusted to the vault, that I'm still scared of leaving it now. It would have been different if Rachel left. She wanted this more than I did."

"I did this to you; I'm the reason why you're like this. I can't think the way you think; I can't be 'Wasteland savvy'." I expressed.

No response, as was regular by now.

"I'm sorry, for what it's worth, and I wish it were me here, then maybe you can just go home and forget about meeting me. That would be better than this..." I said, looking at her hurt body and face.

"Well, that's it for now, Victoria. I'll see you tomorrow." I said, trying to get up.


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: All in the Blood**

I got up finally onto my crutches and crutched back to my room. Doc Hill was inside waiting for me. He said the courier had been sent and that someone would come for me in the next few days. I said thanks and sat back on the bed. I looked at my bandages closely. I bled a lot around my stomach and the doctor had to add more bandages, but blood poured from those and stained the bandages on the outside, but it was minor. Blood was also splattered on the lower part of the soft pants the doctor gave me. I looked down at my leg and saw that blood came from the back of my lower knee and my front. I guessed that the bullet went through my leg and that it had to be stitched in both places. I was weakened from the therapy and my head continued hurting, so I told Doc Hill.

"Put these in your mouth and swallow. They're probably not roofies. Probably." Doc Hill instructed me as he handed me a glass of water.

The water tasted awful and dirty, but I took my pills anyway, regardless of the water's state. I looked closer at the cup and saw that it was tinted brown. I frowned in disgust and put the cup at my bedside. I lay back down and waited for the medicine to kick in. Eventually my pain numbed and my head cleared up. I felt at peace. I closed my eyes and went back to sleep. Doc Hill walked in a few minutes later. "Ah shit, they were roofies. Well it's not like he'll remember taking them, anyway. Where'd I put my lotion?"

The next few days were repetitive: wake up, therapy, medicine or roofie gamble, talk to Victoria, eat, sleep. After a few days of this, the pain in my leg felt lessened and Doc Hill told me that I should try walking without crutches because of my progress. I gave him the crutches and began to walk on the mat. I didn't need the bars, but my legs still hurt. My walking seemed semi-normal, with the occasionally limp of my leg and the slump forward of my torso when I try to straighten my back more than I should. He congratulated me and gave me back my crutches just in case. He said soon I can walk around without crutches, if I keep doing certain equally painful stretches with my body. I took my medicine and went back to sleep in case they were roofies. This time, I woke up and finally felt normal (they were still roofies). I got up from my bed and started to walk around my room without my crutches. My leg shook but not as much as before. I started to walk around the hallway, smiling at my progress. I went up to Doc Hill and he smiled at me and clapped his hands. He got up and I followed him back to my room. He opened a closet and gave me back my clothes. My clothes were even more dusty and had large blood stains on them with tears in the stitching riddling them. I put on my shirt and jeans and left my green over shirt in the room.

"You seem healthy enough to me to waltz your way around town, friend." Doc Hill smiled.

"You just make sure you come back here every day for treatment, you might be able to walk, but you ain't nearly as close to being fully healed." He warned me.

"Aright. Thanks Doc Hill, for everything that you've done." I smiled, shaking his hand.

"Don't worry about it. It's bad for you. Seriously, your heart can't handle that many processes, you've been roofied, like, fifty times this week. That's gonna fuck something up inside you."

Doc Hill gave me a bottle of painkillers or possible roofies and my pack. I put the bottle in my pack and put it on my back. I walked out of the clinic and looked up at the sky. The sun scorched my eyes like it did when I left the vault, but I adjusted faster this time. I walked around the town, holding my abdomen wounds. I finally saw how this town looked. Burnt out houses have been transformed into buildings held together by wood and scrap. People in cheap clothing all gathered around fire pits to warm themselves up. Children ran around the town, chasing each other with pre-war toys that seemed almost as dirty as they were. I wandered around, looking at what the people here did. Makeshift signs made out of random junk showed above the rebuilt buildings. I stopped walking and caught my breath, holding my arm onto a wall and resting on it. I felt weakened again and started to turn back, telling myself I wasn't ready for this. My ear caught a sound of some people talking loudly as I walked, and I couldn't help but turn. A group of people surrounded one as he talked to them all. His posture looked like he was gloating to the small crowd, raising his upper body towards the people, but still trying to be taller than everyone else. I walked over to hear what he had to say, my curiosity outweighing my tiredness.

"Yep, found this thing in the clinic, has a bunch of gadgets and contraptions on it, but it looks cool! How much you guys want for it?" The young man asked the crowd.

He held up a black large piece of metal with a yellow cloth draped around it. I looked closer at it and saw that it was Victoria's Power Fist. I glared and clenched my fist, but let go as it hurt too much.

"Wonder how much this thing would cost, what do you guys think? 50?" The man positioned the bargain. I went up to him.

"Give that back! It doesn't belong to you!" I shouted as I tried to grab it. The young men and women ran off and I tried to chase them. My leg started to hurt and I fell to the ground, slamming onto the dusty ground hard.

"Come back!" I coughed, raising my hand at them, and trying to grab them at the distance I was laying on.

Each cough hurt my chest, and I felt like blood moved up from my throat every time I coughed. I gasped for breath and finally calmed down. I pulled myself up, writhing with pain. I breathed in deeply and walked back to the clinic. I went to Victoria's room and sat down at her bed, putting my hands on my lap and panting.

"I'm sorry, Victoria. I found your Power Fist... and I lost it. I tried so hard to get it back, but I just couldn't." I sighed.

"I just… couldn't do it." I sighed.

"But I'll get it back... one day." I said, getting up to walk away.

I saw someone standing in her doorway. He was a tall, built and hairy man with a beard and red bandana. My face lit up and I limped faster to him.

"Joe! Thank God you're here, you've got to do something for me, I-"

"People saw you at Megaton talking to Chain before the town rebelled. Why were you talking to him?" He asked.

"What are-" I was interrupted by him.

"_Why were you talking to him?_" He said with a stern and serious voice. I sat down at Victoria's bed, and sighed as I looked at him.

"My vault is dying, that's true. I was sent out here by my Overseer to get some food for them, too. I only went out here for one reason, though. When I was young, I was born out here, but my parents didn't want this for me, so they found a vault. They were traveling to one when raiders ambushed them. Chain shot my father and killed my mother and then left us for dead. He ruined my life, my family, so I wanted revenge. I went out here to kill him. I just didn't expect this to happen..." I looked at Victoria in grief.

"This is my fault; I didn't want this to happen. She's like this because of me, and now everybody is going to die, except him. I'm sorry that I did this to you, I am. I tried to end it right there, but I just couldn't do it." I held Victoria's arm and looked at Joe.

Joe sighed. "I'm sorry, it's just that I thought... it's just that Larry is dead along with most of the security and the town has no idea what to do with Chain still on the loose. Larry's kid's been taking it rough, too. Not… not in _that_ way." Joe told me.

"I wish I could do something about it, I wish that I went and killed him as soon as I left the vault. Instead... all this happened. I couldn't have ever predicted this." I said, looking down. Joe exhaled through his nose.

"Hey… cheer up. You helped the town too, we wouldn't have clean water without you, and now Jab is getting more respect after what you did." Joe patted my back and smiled, hurting me. I winced and then I elbowed him in the ribs. "Not you, too." Joe moaned.

"As soon as we heal, I'm going to help you guys. Things are going to change." I promised.

"That's the spirit, kid! Hey, nice beard by the way. Not as good as mine, though. Been growing this out for five years." Joe said with a smile.

"Beard?" I asked. I walked to a mirror in her room and looked at my face. A brown stubble covered my chin. I rubbed my hand against it and felt its texture. It was rough and prickly as it scraped against my fingertips. I turned back to Joe.

"Nice, huh? Anyway, I'll rent a place in town and wait for you to heal, just tell me and we can head back to Megaton." Joe nodded.

"Alright." I said.

"Glad you're all right, buddy. I am." Joe nodded. He walked out of the room and down the hall.

I went back to my room to sleep, happy that I had someone here with me, someone that I can actually have a conversation with. I continued my daily routine for the next week, making my mind set to going back to my peak condition, even if it meant unbearable pain. Eventually, my legs stiffened and became usable. Doc Hill said I was a fast healer and congratulated me again on my progress. I went to Victoria's room to talk to her. Her face was calm and she lay motionless on her bed, as she has always done for weeks now.

"I think I'm better now, Victoria." I told her one morning.

"And, uh, Joe and I will be leaving to go back to Megaton soon." I said hesitantly, acting like she could hear and understand every word coming out of my mouth.

"Please wake up, Victoria." I begged.

"Please don't be like this forever, I can't sit here and watch you like this, knowing that I did this. This feeling is…" I sighed, getting up. I couldn't put into words my experience in the Capital Wasteland thus far.

"Joe and I will come back for you, I promise." I said, shuffling out of the door, and not turning back to her.

I went outside to walk around and see what it's like with my feet working again. I saw the buildings again and everybody walking around, saddened by the state of their lives. It was a depressing sight how bad this town was that people had to steal from the ill to get themselves in higher standards. I saw the shops around town, barren from anyone willing to spend the little money they had. I felt my pack and walked inside the nearest shop. I checked my bag to see if I still had my money, so I can get something that wasn't slightly irradiated water. I had a few dollars, so I continued inside.

"Welcome to Food and Shit. How may I help you?" The bored clerk spewed her rehearsed line. "I would like… food? And… not… shit?"

I paid for some food and water and walked out, happy that I won't have to eat more bland crackers and protein supplements. I brought the box of steak and put it in my pack along with the water.

I walked outside, and started to pull out my water and drink it, wiping my lips with my arm afterwards. As I rested against the wall, I spotted a group of people walking down the street. One person strayed from the group, walking in front of them all. I saw that it was the man who stole Victoria's Power Fist. I walked up to him and grabbed him by the shirt, not thinking for a second about the men behind him.

"I told you that this doesn't belong to you, now give it back." I said, holding onto the Power Fist.

"What are you going to do about it, fall asleep on me?" The man said as he tried my patience with a grin as cheap as his clothes.

"I'm not the one who's falling asleep today." I threw him and he stumbled to the floor. We raised our fists at each other, and startled the men walking behind him.

He threw a punch with the Power Fist and I dodged it, pulling it off his hand and onto the ground as he stumbled back from his attack. I came back with a hook to his cheek with my bare hand, making him move back for a moment, recovering with an angered huff. He ran at me and charged me into the ground. He threw a punch at my face, smacking my head into the dusty ground. I kicked him off of me, and brought myself to my feet, feeling the pain in my stitches. He got a jab at my head and it knocked my head back. The weeks of staying motionless were shown in my bones when my neck popped and cracked with the punch hitting me. I kicked him in the stomach and punched him in the face as he grunted loudly. He tried to kick me with a side kick, but I caught his foot and let my elbow down on his knee. He fell to the floor, sobbing angrily as he made it his goal to take me down. He struggled upwards and punched my face and pushed me backwards. My lip started to bleed and my wounds started to burn on my body from moving. The man shouted with a bloody smile and the group of men ran from behind me, flanking me easily while I was fighting. Four men started walking towards us both and I turned to them. I knew that I couldn't take them because of my wounds, and I realized I bit off more than I could chew. I knew I needed a gun, a weapon or anything but there wasn't anything near me.

The man that I was fighting smiled at me and I remembered my past experience with Chain. I told my ego that we weren't running. I ran at the man and tackled him at the stomach, landing us into the ground. I picked up the Power Fist from the ground and started compressing the air with a lever on it as I got off of him. The men took pieces of wood off the street to use as weapons and ran at me. I readied the Power-Fist and gasped a quick breath and leaned against the wall, my lungs burning and my body in pain. The men stopped as a figure steeped out of the darkness and faced them.

It was Joe, armed with a 2x4 found off the street. He waked to one of the men and broke it over his head. I ran up to the remaining men and proceeded to fight. One man swung down a piece of wood over my head from my right. I moved back and it got caught between two buildings. I kicked the piece of wood and it broke in half, sending shards of wood into the air. I punched the man with the Power Fist and he rolled back into the ground, kicking up a dust cloud around him. Joe punched a man in the stomach and he swung a metal rod at the side of his head. Joe ducked and grabbed the man's arm and took the metal rod from him as Joe held the man's arm down. He swung it at the man and made a loud noise as it clanked against his head, echoing the attack at the rod's hollow center. The man fell over and grabbed his head in pain as Joe held the ringing metal pole, and waked away. I ran to a man who pulled out a knife at me and started to jab at me. I moved back as Joe called to me. "Watch the dick-head here!" he shouted as threw the metal rod at the attacker's head. Blood flew from his mouth and he barreled into a wall and slumped against it. "Pole beats knife, douche-cheese." Joe taunted him.

"Hey!" A man screamed loudly at us.

Joe and I turned around to see the man who stole Victoria's gauntlet aiming a small gun at me. I put my hands up as the man wiped blood from his cheek, squinting his eye at me and raising the pistol. Joe quickly pulled out a pistol from his pocket and shot the man in the chest. The man fell over and pulled the trigger on his gun before he hit the ground. The bullet flew off into a wall, shooting out the dust trapped in the hard wall. I caught my breath and looked at Joe.


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: You're Welcome**

"Holy shit! You killed him!" I shouted.

"Eh, probably. So what was that all about?" He asked as he holstered his pistol.

"The guy stole this from Victoria." I showed him her Power-Fist.

We turned away to see the man Joe shot gurgle out sounds and flap on the ground.

"Excuse me, can you shut up?! We're trying to talk!" Joe yelled at the dying man.

"Anyways, that explains why you did so good in that fight!" We both laughed.

The man gurgled and choked. We ignored it.

"So why didn't you use your gun in that fight?" I asked.

"It wouldn't have been a challenge—"

The dying man coughed and spat and shouted.

"Oh my God, shut up!" I yelled as I pulled out Joe's and shot his body four times.

"Let's get this to a safe spot." I said as Joe smiled at me and held up his arm for a high-five. I slapped him back as we walked past the bodies.

We made it back to the clinic and into Victoria's room. We decided to keep her gauntlet in my pack, since I keep it on me all the time. I sat down in her bed and sighed.

"We did it, Victoria." I said with a smile.

"I got your Power Fist back." I said, jingling my pack.

"What are you doing?" Joe asked me.

"Talking." I answered.

"Jace, she's in a coma, she can't hear you." Joe squinted.

"How do you know?" I asked, looking at her.

"Alright, you can do you what you want. I'm just telling you that it's a waste of time." Joe said as he got up and washed his hands, smelling them after he cleaned them. "Why do I smell lotion?" Joe asked himself quietly.

I grabbed her hand and continued talking as Joe looked down at her. Joe rolled his eyes and bent down, mumbling something to himself.

"Are you sure she can hear me?" Joe asked.

"Do you want to keep guessing?" I asked him. Joe looked at Victoria as she slept on the bed.

"Hey Vee, you look fat in those pants." Joe said loudly, bending his head towards her ear.

"Yeah, she can't hear me. Those are her favorite pants." Joe said, getting up and dusting his knees of the dirty floor that he kneeled on.

"C'mon, Jace. Let's get going." Joe said, putting his hand on my shoulder.

We got up and started to walk out when we heard a noise, we turned around to Victoria. Joe's face turned to horror, as if he saw a zombie rise from the dead.

"Was that a fart?" Joe asked.

"Shut up and listen." I whispered quickly, looking into the room.

Victoria started to gasp and then hum, loudly, making Joe and I run to Doc Hill. He went into the room and inspected her eyes. "You didn't roofie her, right?" Doc Hill asked us.

"Wha—Ho—How is that even a possibility? What the hell goes on here?" Joe asked him.

"Oh, _there's_ my lotion." Doc Hill smiled as he lifted up the bottle next to Victoria's bed.

"I'm sorry I brought you guys here." Joe mumbled to me.

"Could've just let me die." I mumbled back.

"Hey Victoria. If you can hear me, I want to say that you... look really weird right now. And I'm 75% sure I'm smelling your farts right now." Joe told her.

"Victoria, hear our voices and concentrate on us, can you do that?" I asked.

"Yeah, please wake up so we can finally get paid for that job." Joe said, looking down at her.

"Aren't you supposed to be her friend or something?" I asked, turning to him.

"_And_?"

"What do you mean '_and_'? That was it-that was the end of my sentence, I wasn't going to add anything else to it. I put a period at th—"

Victoria started to move and her eyelids slowly opened. The three of us stared at her in anticipation as she wiggled around in her bed. Her eyes fully opened and she stared at us.

"Joe, stop staring at me like that." She said softly.

"Nice to see you too." Joe said, backing away from her in relief.

"Where am I?" She asked.

"You're in a huge dump of a town." Joe said. Doc Hill glared at him.

"I'm gonna go put my lotion away." Doc Hill muttered angrily as he left the room.

"What happened?" She asked.

"The raiders got you with a grenade. You've been out a month or two." I explained.

"Jace? What are you doing here?" Victoria asked as she sat up in the bed.

"He took three gunshots trying to carry you into town." Joe told her. Victoria smiled, but hid it quickly.

"Are you all right Jace?" She asked me in her post-comatose state.

"Yeah, I gave Joe quite a scare, though." I said with a smile, crossing my arms and standing next to him.

"You wanted me to leave you there!" Joe exclaimed.

"Yeah, whatever, chickenshit. So, can you walk?" I asked her.

"Let me try." Victoria said as she pushed her arms from her bed.

She got up from the bed and moved around with shaking legs. She grabbed at her back in pain, and winced. Doc Hill went back into the room, his body glistening for some reason. We stared at the glowing man with a bottle of empty lotion in his hand.

"Hi, I'm your doctor." He said quietly.

"Was-was I raped while I was here?" Victoria whispered to us.

"To be honest, I—I dunno. Anything could have happened here" I whispered back as we forced a smile at Doc Hill.

"Wow, everything hurts." She winced, breathing in.

"The blast took apart a piece of your back; it should be healed right now, thanks to me! I just need to remove the stitches. And as much as it will hurt me more than it will hurt you, I'll need to take yours too, Jace." Doc Hill frowned; contrasting the smiley face on my stomach.

Doc Hill led Victoria to a room and took out her stitches. She left with her old clothes on that were just as dirty as mine. Doc Hill called for me afterwards to remove mine. It felt awkward cutting away the stitches and pulling them out of my skin. I soon got out and stretched my back, sighing in relief. I picked up my pack and pulled out Victoria's fist as we walked down the corridors.

"Oh yeah, I forgot. Here's your Power Fist." I handed Victoria her Power Fist out of my pack.

"Why did you hold on to it?" Victoria asked.

"Well, some of the refreshing citizens in this lovely town stole it, and Joe and I got it back. I've been holding on to it for safe keeping." I answered.

"Huh. I felt like that was the case." Victoria said, looking outside.

I looked at Joe with a smile and he rolled his eyes at me.

"Listen, now that both of you are here, I wanted to talk to you about something." I said, sitting down on a chair in the front office.

"What's the matter? Need to learn about the birds and the bees?" Joe smiled. Victoria elbowed him the stomach harder than usual.

"Why do you do this?" Joe grunted, looking up at Victoria as he bent over in pain.

"I just felt like I needed to do it more that time." Victoria explained.

Joe shrugged in absolute surprise.

"Do these pants look nice to you guys?" Victoria asked.

"Blood stains are always in style, Vee. Now what is it you wanted to talk about, Jace?" Joe asked with a wink to me.

"When Chain shot me in that fight, I passed out... and I... I went to some place." I explained.

"I felt like I was truly there, and the only person there was a woman, and she told me to stop going after Chain. I felt like she was my mother, but... I don't know. I dunno what to do."

"That's perfectly normal to have visions like that Jace, especially since I pumped you full of possible toxins and chemicals! You had a near death experience and your conscious was just trying to pull yourself back up so you didn't wake up a raving lunatic. Trust me, it's a therapeutic science!" Doc Hill laughed out a hard, dry laugh.

"Ugh." Victoria said in disgust at it.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." I said, getting up.

I didn't care. I started to think about the vision and the problems that I faced now.

"Well, Doc, thanks for help—"

"No!" Doc Hill yelled at Victoria.

"Don't leave with the hairy man-baby and the butt-chin guy! Stay here!" He begged.

"Let's go, let's go." Victoria rushed as we fled the hospital.


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10: And What a Return It Was**

My mind was totally set on getting my vault food, now that it's been months since I left home. Soon, I realized something important, and stopped walking.

"What is it? We still have some ground to cover before sunset." Joe said, showing us the distance with his hand.

"I know what to do! I know how to help everybody!" I shouted.

"How?" Victoria asked.

"I'll tell the town tomorrow, just meet me outside the mayor's office." I smiled.

They agreed and we walked a short distance and finally found the town. Blood stains were still all over the dirt, but the bodies were moved away from it. We walked inside the gate and into the town. We walked to the bar for some rest and went inside. The place was packed with people, all laughing or drinking away their memories. Such things were very common in a world where you can die tomorrow and it would be normal. Jab waved to us as he served drinks and went up to us.

"Hey! My favorite smoothskins! Welcome back from the dead! Trust me, it ain't that bad though." Jab said, laughing playfully.

"Hey Jab, you still have our rooms?" I asked.

"Of course, Joe's been paying for them." Jab said.

"Thanks." Victoria said to Jab with a smile.

"Right, no need to thank your best friend for paying for your home while you could have possibly died, no-no." Joe sighed.

"Hey, thanks for all you guys did, I'm getting treated betteraround here now. Any drinks are on me tonight!" Jab exclaimed.

"Thanks Jab, but I'd like to get some sleep." I said politely.

"Well that's too bad for you!" Joe smile as he went up to the counter and pointed to a bottle of whiskey and slammed his fist on the counter.

"Don't do that." Jab told him.

"I'm sorry, I crossed the line." Joe said quickly as Jab poured a shot.

I went upstairs and put my holster and pack on my dresser and sat in my bed. I checked my pistol and put it down, changing my attention to my scarred legs. Victoria then came inside as I moved my hurt leg slowly.

"Hey, I want to say thanks for what you did. I might not be here right now if it wasn't for you, so, thanks." Victoria said with a kind smile.

"No problem. You guys saved my life, I should return the favor." I nodded.

She sat down in my bed and kissed my cheek.

"And thanks for keeping me company." She smiled.

Victoria got up and walked to the doorway and smiled at me. She walked back to her room as I smiled back. Joe then came up the stairs with bottles in his hand and called me to his room with a drunken arm gesture. I walked to his room and peered at him as he gave me a book that was written in pencil. The cover said "Joe's Wasteland Survival Guide."

"I don't believe it." I smiled, looking at it.

"I know. I've been working on it every day since you've been out." Joe smiled.

"No, not that. I just didn't know you could write." I joked. The both of us laughed for a moment.

"Don't you dare judge me, you condescending douchebag." Joe smiled as he tapped his gun against my shoulder.

"Thanks for this, Joe." I smiled.

"No problem, buddy." He smiled as he drank from his bottle.

"Now if you don't mind, I'm going to go back downstairs and find some feminine company." Joe winked as he took his bottle downstairs. He then quickly popped his head back up the stairs to see me.

"I'm gonna go and pay for sex, Jace. We—we do that out here." Joe explained quickly afterwards as he left with his whiskey bottle.

I headed to my room and began to read Joe's book. I read as much as I could before I went to sleep, reading up on basic survival methods and creatures of the Wasteland. I closed my eyes and took in all new information about the Wasteland, remembering for some reason to stay away from large buildings.

I woke up from a blissful sleep and went downstairs. I had some Nuka-Cola and noodles with mole rat bits in it. They've never tasted so good! After I ate, I went to the office and saw Joe asleep at Larry's old desk.

"Morning, Joe. Can you gather the townspeop—"

"OH MY GOD, CAN YOU NOT YELL AT ME?!" Joe screamed at me. "Sure thing." He added in.

People eventually gathered around below me, slightly impatient by my summoning. Soon, around 20 people gathered around and waited for what I had to say. Victoria and Joe stood next to me.

"Morning." I told them.

"OH MY _GOD_!" Joe shouted as he covered his ears and walked away.

"I know that things are hard around here after the attack, but I've come up with a compromise that will help this town." I shouted down to them.

"There is a vault, not far from this town. It's filled with people who are in need of food and water. They have adequate weaponry and a security force that can protect this town. If we can give them food, I will see if I can set up a compromise so that they defend the town. I'm going to need your support for this, everyone, what do you say?" I shouted to them.

The people started to talk among themselves until they started to shrug and shake their heads.

"How do you know there are people in there?" Someone asked me.

"Because… I used to live there."

"Ew!" Someone yelled from the crowd.

"Do you guys agree, or not?" I yelled down to them.

The people talked amongst each other. "Sure. A—Are we just supposed to clap in agree-ance, or…"

"Nah, that's fine, dude. Whatever. And don't worry, because of this, everybody can have a chance to live a safe life in Megaton!" I yelled with a smile.

"Alright, cool." A singular townsperson yelled back as the crowd dispersed.

I walked over to Joe and Victoria who were clapping and smiling at me.

"Well I think that went well, what do you guys think?" I asked.

"Couldn't have done it better myself! And I mean that this time." Joe nodded.

"Yeah, nice job!" Victoria exclaimed.

"AH! GUYS! I'm… _hung-over_." Joe pointed to his ears and shut his eyes in pain. I shook my head at him.

"Thanks, so let's get the caravans ready to transport, shall we?"

I turned over to Joe, anticipating him to wince and hold his ears. "Nah, I think I'm over it now." He shrugged as he walked away normally.

The townspeople gathered food from the town and strapped it onto bags. We gathered the irradiated animals in the area, which are called brahmin. It is a four-legged animal with two heads and an "udder". When I first saw it, I wasn't afraid of it, it just seemed normal after seeing the things out here. Around 8 brahmins were gathered and were strapped with bags of food, water and tools. We started transporting them towards the vault. I led them into the tunnel and towards the blast door. I told the caravan to wait out here. I called over Joe and Victoria.

"What do you need?" Victoria asked.

"I have some unfinished business in the vault... and... I'd like you two to be there." I told them.

"Sounds good to me, just be careful, all right? Remember who those people are. They're your friends and family. It doesn't sound like you're planning a party." Victoria expressed nervously.

I walked to the controls for the door and spoke into the intercom.

"It's me, open up." I said into it.

"About time. I mean—what's the password?" A man said with a gruff.

"Open the door, Haywood." I sighed at him.

"Please don't tell the Overseer."

The large, circular door made a loud sound as it grinded itself open. The three of us walked in.

"Wait, who are these people?" A security guard asked.

"Get out of my way; we're going to The Overseer's office." I said as I pushed him aside.

"Hey! What about my question?!" He shouted at me.

"Uh, shove it up your ass, and we'll take it from there." I pointed two finger guns at him and clicked my tongue twice. I walked forward into the vault, with the people moving out of our way as they recognized the shaggy haired kid in front of the two outsiders.

We walked through the hallways towards the office and answered the many questions Joe and Victoria had about the people here. We went to the office and I told Joe to wait outside as Victoria and I went in. I saw the overseer sitting at his desk. "Are you sure about this Jace?" Victoria eased me. "I've got it. You're better than Joe, anyway."

I looked at the Overseer as he worked.

"Well it's about time you got back; we've been surviving off scraps here." The Overseer said tiredly as he sat in his desk and wrote on paper.

"He sounds like a douchebag, Jace!" Joe shouted from the other room. I closed the door on him. "Awwww." Joe said continuously until the door shut.

"We're here to talk about a compromise." I said, still holding a grudge against him.

"We're not appointing you for this job to compromise." The Overseer sneered.

"A town outside will continue to feed the vault if you send people over there to help it." I said.

He scoffed. "Who are you to tell me what I should do with the people here? Those dirty rats will get nothing from this vault!" The Overseer snapped back.

"Those 'dirty rats' are normal people just like you and me! They need our help and I'll be damned if I let you kill everybody I know!" I shouted.

"Easy, Jace." Victoria said as she held onto my shoulder.

The door opened Victoria and Joe and Rachel walked in.

"I'm sorry; she said she knew you and that she wanted to see you, Jace." Joe told me.

"It's all right, Joe." I eased him and myself at the same time.

"Jace? People said you returned, so I came here. You look so different, is that a beard? What happened to your jumpsuit?" Rachel asked in rapid-fire.

"Rachel, I'm sorry, but this isn't the best time." I sighed as I held the bridge of my nose in stress.

"Who's this?" Rachel asked as she looked at Victoria, who was still holding my shoulder. Victoria's hand dropped to her side instantly. I guess she knew what was coming next.

"Oooh, shit! They both have a crush on Jace!" Joe called from the outside.

"Can you do me a favor?" I asked Rachel.

"Yeah." She closed the door on Joe. "Awwwwww." He said again until it closed on him.

"This is Victoria and that's Joe, they're friends I made outside." I explained.

"Friends?" Rachel asked as she studied Victoria closely. Victoria raised an eyebrow at her.

"Yeah. Friends, we're just talking to your father about something." I told her.

"All right, then. I'll... just be outside then." Rachel said as she walked out to Joe. "So he didn't pick you, huh?" Joe asked Rachel as the door closed. She sighed and slapped him in the face right before the metallic doors closed. Victoria and I turned back to The Overseer.

"Look at you, look at how you dress and how you talk, you're just like one of _them_." The Overseer said.

"'One of them'? These people are dying and they need our help, I could have let everyone die in here, but I didn't, you know why? Because its people who-unlike you-actually care about helping and rely on me. It's people like Rachel and my father who want to help people! Not you!" I yelled.

"Your father? Your father was a deadbeat just like you!" He shouted.

I punched The Overseer and he flew over his desk, completely ignoring his past tense descriptiob. Victoria grabbed my shoulders and kept me from The Overseer.

"Look at you..." The Overseer panted, feeling his jaw.

"Look at what the outside has done to you! You're an animal and need to be put down like one. This is how you treat people who disagree with you? You just beat them into agreeing with you?" The Overseer yelled.

"I'm glad I sent you out there, you want to know why? I'd rather see _you_ turn into an animal than my own daughter! You don't know what it's like to be a leader… you don't know what it's like to be a father. You're just a _child_." He added.

"I told you that there was going to be change here, and now I'm going to make it happen, and you aren't going to stand in my way." I said in a softer tone.

"I knew this would happen if I let people out, and I knew this would eventually happen to your kind. You and your father. You're tainted. You're ending up just like him." The Overseer spat.

"You father turned on me just after you left. I told him there was no way you were coming back and that he was too late to save you. He yelled at me and he said that I ruined his life. He was going to rally the people to overthrow me. I sent my security to put him to rest, permanently, before this turned into a riot. Of course... everyone thought it was an accident. I know what this seems like, but this is the position I'm in Jace." The Overseer baited me.

We stood in silence for a moment as I glared angrily and emotionally at him. I couldn't face him the information he told me. I didn't know what I was about to do and it scared me. Victoria saw this in my face, and she backed away. My mind went blank after this. Victoria filled me in on what I did. I ran and kicked The Overseer in the head. He fell over and coughed, looking at me with his eyes wide open.

"GET UP!" I commanded with fury and tears.

He got up and I grabbed his shirt and sling-shotted him into the wall and into my fist. I grabbed his fist and broke his arm over the corner of his desk. He fell to the ground, screaming.

"GET-UP!" I screamed.

He moved to a wall and rested his head on it as he caught his breath.

"You couldn't even have the decency to tell people what you did, you piece of _SHIT_!" I punched him side of his head and it smashed into the wall. I screamed hysterically at him. He coughed and sobbed as he grabbed his arm.

"Get up!" I shouted.

"Control yourself… I did what I had to do to keep people safe—"

"Well that fixes everything, doesn't it? That makes everything worth it?!" I grabbed his shirt and pulled him to his feet. I began punching him across the face, blood flew from him and onto the walls. I gave him a straight in the nose and he flew into a wall, grabbing at nothing to pull himself up. I grabbed his head and threw him back into the wall. He fell over and I picked him up again. I pulled him by the hair and brought his head into his desk. He bounced off with a crack and fell over, moaning. I grabbed his head readied my fist at his neck. At that moment, I heard a voice echo in my head.

"You are meant to do a lot, but not everything."

I snapped back into my mind again and looked at him with hate. I wanted him to suffer, but I thought about my actions. I lowered my fist and crouched next to him.

"The only reason I'm letting you live is because your daughter can still scavenge some love for you, and I'm not going to put her through what you're doing to me. If it were up to me, I would kill you right now." I whispered to him.

"Then you… don't have what it takes to be a leader… your blood keeps you from seeing truth." He coughed.

"You… can get people to follow you, sure… but you don't know what it's like to be a leader until you had to do what _I_ did… choose what _I_ did."

"I did choose. And I made a better choice than you."

"You think that because you feel benevolent in its choice… but it's fleeting. A bold-faced lie. These decisions have far-reaching consequences. I know this because I'm not an insolent child. Not a dependent idiot stuck on a pre-meditated job… taking fake 'test', not the legend this vault birthed. Just a puppet strung up by your own hands. The worst part is you don't even realize you're controlling it."

"Not a legend. Not... not Amat—Rachel. No… I've ruined that opportunity. There will be another. We will make one better than you."

He was speaking nonsense at the point, I dropped him.

Victoria stared at me as I got up.

"Get Joe to take him to a doctor outside the vault. Let him know what it feels like to be out there, and leave him in Springvale." I said as I walked out of the room. Joe looked at my hands and shook his head.

"Well... I didn't see that coming." He said sarcastically as he rolled his eyes and started to walk next to me.

Victoria told Joe what to do as I walked to a water fountain and rinsed my hands. I punched a wall afterwards in anger and moaned "ow" afterwards. I then sat against the "defeated" wall. Victoria walked up to me and sat next to me.

"I'm sorry about what happened." She told me.

"I am too."

"Thanks for not doing what you did; I'm glad you thought about it at the end." She said.

"The end's what we're all thinking about, now." I sighed.

"Can you blame us?"

I sat there for a moment and breathed in, looking at my hands.

"Why didn't you stop me?" I asked sadly.

"Because I know what it feels like. I wanted to get revenge for what happened to me, but I never had the chance... and he got away."

"What happened to you?"

"I was little... and I grew up in Megaton. My parents and I worked on the piping in the town and were teaching me what to do. I was little, and I didn't know much about the town. The sheriff at the time was a shady man and worked with Larry who was deputy at the time. I heard one morning the two argued, and the sheriff stormed out of town. The next day, he came back with raiders, armed to the teeth with weapons. They slaughtered almost everyone there in what seemed like an instant. I heard the noise coming from outside, so my parents moved me to a small bunker with other people. That's where I met Joe; he was also down there with me. My parents dropped me there with other kids and locked the cellar doors. We never saw our parents again. From that day forth, the sheriff was known as Chain because he used a chainsaw to finish off the wounded." She said as tear rolling down here face. I wiped it from her face and looked down.

"What did he do to you?" She asked me afterwards.

"My mother's dead because of him, and he's the reason I was stuck in this place for my childhood." I answered.

"He's got a thing for ruining children's lives." I added.

"Seems like this vault did that more than Chain." She told me.

"Yeah… I'm sorry about what happened to you, Victoria." I said.

"You too, Jace." She said quietly.

I got up and pulled her up to her feet. We walked down the hall towards the morgue to pay my father his respect. As we walked, Chip walked up to me angrily with a bunch of men behind him in leather jackets.

"Hey, Marston!" Chip shouted.

I made it obvious it wasn't the time for this. I dreamily grabbed at my pistol in its holster. Chip noticed what I was doing and they fled. I sighed and dropped my hand from the holster, knowing that I wasn't going to use it anyway. We soon entered the morgue with my heart heavy. It was cold and had many shelves with names on them, they covered the room. I walked down and found my father's name on a sticker. I pulled the sticker off and opened the shelf and saw the body covered by a cloth. I sighed hard and Victoria put her arm around me. Red-eyed and choking up, I picked up his body and began to walk.

"Do you need help?" Victoria asked.

"No… I want to do this alone." I said quietly.

"Are you sure?" She asked.

"Yes. Just go back and help Joe out or something." I said as I walked away.

"Alright. Sure." She nodded in agreement as she backed away.

"Find someone to replace The Overseer. And find someone worthy." I said as I walked out of the room with my father in my arms. I kept waking, ignoring the people who knew me and stared in surprise at me. "He's back." Were the whispers. "What happened to him?" "Oh God, he's dirty." "That's blood."

The caravan looked impatient, but their faces changed when they saw me walking. They took it as the sign to pull in the food to the vault. I took a spade from one of the brahmin's bags and walked out of the tunnel. I rested my father's body on the ground and started to dig next to him. The sun was setting when I started, but I didn't care. I dug until it was dark and the grave was complete. I then rested my father's body in the grave, looking down at him with tears in my eyes.

"I'm sorry I couldn't save you fast enough, dad. I'm...I'm sorry. I should have stayed. I'm not ready to be out here. I need you." I said as I sobbed down at him.

I started to fill in the grave with the dirt, crying and weeping as I pulled dirt onto him. When I was done, I put the spade in my belt loop and looked around. I picked up an old sign that said "Scenic Overlook" and placed it above my father's grave. I put my father's sticker on it. I walked back into the vault, ignoring everyone with an angry or judgmental stare. I went to bed in my old room, hating every second of being there. I couldn't sleep that night there.


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11: Even A Little Change**

I woke up the next morning and went into The Overseer's office. Joe and Victoria were standing around the room. Rachel sat in the desk, adjusting papers.

"They told me what happened. I'm sorry, Jace. I didn't know he slipped that far into madness." Rachel told me.

"Sure." I said anti-socially.

"Don't worry, I won't be like him, I promise." She shook her head.

"Yeah." I nodded, sitting down in a chair. Rachel winced as my dirty clothes touched it.

"It's time, make the call." Joe said to her. Rachel put her finger on the intercom and moved her face into it.

"Attention citizens of Vault 101. After realization of the past Overseer's—my father's- corruption, I have been appointed new Overseer of this vault. Things are to change, I promise you. After intelligence from the outside, it has been deemed safe to leave this vault, but leave with great caution. As a compromise for our food from the outside, our security and work forces will go and work at the outside town called 'Megaton'. Times are changing, and this time, good things will follow. I promise I'll keep this legacy safe, no matter what we face." Rachel took her finger off the intercom.

"Thank you, Jace. For everything that you've done." Rachel nodded.

"You're welcome..." I mumbled.

"You're going to stay here, right?" Rachel asked me.

I looked up and stared at her. Joe and Victoria were on my left, Rachel on my right. My eyes groggily looked at them for my answer.

"I think I have to go." I said in almost a whisper.

Rachel inhaled and swallowed.

"You guys are welcome here anytime. I'll see you later, Jace." Rachel told us as I Joe and Victoria walked up to me. Joe patted me understandably on my back and walked out of the office.

"She's a keeper." Rachel smiled at me. I smiled slightly and walked out.

The three of us left the vault and walked to Megaton in the heat of the morning.

"So you took care of him?" I asked Joe.

"Yep, he didn't like it too much, though." Joe answered.

"Good." I said, happy in the Overseer's downfall.

We continued into town and told the guard covering the gate that the security forces will be arriving shortly. We all went into the mayor's office to decide what to do next. The room was empty. Joe immediately ran to the safe. "I totally forgot!"

He stuck his tongue out as he listened to the safe with this right ear, pressing his face against it. He spun the knob and continued listening to it closely. Victoria and I looked at each other and then back to Joe. A quick "aha!" soon followed as he backed away. He moved back away from the safe, took out his gun and shot the lock. It fell off and the door opened slowly.

"God, I'm so good." He said as he pulled it open.

"Yeah Joe, you're a true master of the art. A real asset to us." Victoria rolled her eyes as we walked towards the safe.

The safe was stocked with money. Packs of money poured out as we stifled threw it. Joe started laughing maniacally as he took it out.

"Stop being an idiot, Joe. We need the money for the town." Victoria explained.

"I'm just taking what the mayor/sheriff/thing owed us. Here's mine, Jace that's for you, and by the way you're acting Vee, I don't think you deserve your cut." Joe said. She elbowed him and took the money.

"That's the greatest thing I missed about you, Vee." Joe said sarcastically, coughing as he felt his ribs.

We took our money and put it into our packs. We then stood up and went to the desk, taking seats on it and on the two chairs around the room.

"So, now we took care of that, we need to take care of what we came here for." I reminded them.

"And what's that? This is what _I_ came here for." Joe said as he flaunted the money around and made it rain.

"We need a new mayor and law system." I told them.

"And why's that? A mayor-slash-sheriff-when-the-need-arises worked so well, didn't it?" Joe said sarcastically.

"Stop being a wise ass, Joe. We need to do things differently or at least improve things if this town's going to stay on its feet."

"So what are we going to do?" Victoria asked.

"The way I see it, we have a mayor, sheriff, and deputy in this room. We just need to assign them to the right places." Joe said as he put his feet up on Larry's old desk.

"I don't think the townspeople would like us deciding it." Victoria put forth.

"They already like Jace, and plus, we've played a big part in helping the town as he did." Joe smiled.

"For once, Joe's right. The people like us and they've already seen us fight, so why not?" I said.

"Alright, then." Victoria shrugged.

"I want to be mayor!" Joe raised his hand.

"Yeah, let the immature man-child run a town." Victoria rolled her eyes.

"Wow… and they called me 'Low-Blow Joe'." Joe said, holding his chest like he was just shot there.

"…"

"It's because I used to kick people in the balls." He said after a pause in the room.

"Yeah, I remember." Victoria nodded.

After hours of discussion, and constant interruptions of Joe's "mayor" voice, we all made a decision. That night, we announced it the townspeople. They all agreed and clapped at the progress our town made. We then all went to the armory to equip ourselves. Joe grabbed a sheriff's badge and I grabbed a deputy's badge. We both replaced our weapons, throwing them to the side. Joe took an assault rifle and I took a .44 magnum revolver and bullets. I reloaded the cylinder and put it in my holster. I put the bullets into my pack.

"Well, someone's been reading!" Joe said, impressed by me.

"Yep, how's your weapon?" I asked.

"Fits me like a glove! That reminds me..." Joe walked up to a closet and opened it up. Cowboy hats and dusters filled it. Joe put a brown cowboy hat on over his red bandana.

"Fits me like a glove, too." He mumbled with a smile.

I took a black cowboy hat and put it on.

"C'mon, you gotta admit, I look sexy." Joe said, outstretching his arms.

"Shut up, Joe." I laughed.

"I'm not a hat guy." I muttered as I placed my hat back.

"So, what are you going to do as mayor, Vee?" Joe asked Victoria.

"I don't know, but this town's going to go through some rough-ass puberty, I know that." Victoria answered.

"He-heh, gross." Joe smiled.

We walked out of the armory and to the bar. The people inside clapped as we walked in, raising their drinks to us. We all walked to our rooms with smiles on our faces, and drinks in one of our hands. I put my things onto my dresser and started reading Joe's book. Victoria then walked in, and I put my book down.

"Hello, Mayor. What brings you here?" I asked. She smiled and sat down.

"I've come to see my people so they can bask in my glory!" She laughed.

"Wow, already a fascist, huh? So, are you ready for this kind of stuff? Seems like a big change from patrolling the city." I asked.

"I can handle it, besides, not like I'm going to do worse than a mayor and sheriff combination." She said.

"And what about you? Can you handle being a deputy?" She asked.

"I don't know, time will tell, I guess." I said. We sat there for a moment.

"You know, you are the only person that I told about what happened to me, you, and Joe of course. Most of the people here haven't been around the town that long. Except that girl Maya." She said.

"Don't worry, I haven't forgotten. Joe and I will work to find where he's hiding."

"Thanks, Jace. I know you don't really think that you're doing a lot but… you are. Seriously." She smiled.

"We're not done yet, I won't let a battle like that happen ever again. What happened to you, it's just... I don't want it to happen again." I said, looking down.

"Thanks for caring about me, Jace." Victoria smiled as she sat down next to me.

She leaned in close to me and we stared at each other for a moment, and slowly kissed. We sat there for a moment, kissing, and the door opened, it was Joe.

"Oh, Jee-... I-I'm sorry, I-I'll just.. just... um, oh God, I'm not drunk enough for this shit." He awkwardly closed the door and fast walked to his room. We looked down at the floor and smiled.

"Well, goodnight, Jace." Victoria said. She got up and went to her room. I continued to read Joe's book until I got tired and went to sleep.

That night, Rachel adjusted herself to her new office in Vault 101. She logged into the computer and read through files to see where her father's work left off. Lazily, she fell asleep on the computer, scooting it back and knocking it off the desk. Below it was a weird device; a finger scanned. Curious about the hidden tech, she touched it. A screen popped up in place of her computer with the words " ." at the top. She looked at it as code scrolled through, ending with the words, "Welcome, Amata Almodavar!" She stared quizzically at it.


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12: Only For a Night**

We immediately got busy with our new responsibilities. We were pulled into the boring life of politics and pulling off two drunken fighters. Months have passed at this point, and nothing was different, except Veronica and I. Things have gotten better between us, and even if Joe didn't approve deep down inside, we were still friends. In fact, Veronica and I were much more than friends. Gossip ran about the town about the mayor's boyfriend while I just sat there in the small fame of the title. All-in-all, Megaton wasn't a crater after the months, and that was good enough.

"Jace…" Joe moaned on my couch in my new house.

"What?" I asked him.

"I'm bored…" He sighed.

"Then go and murder someone so I can arrest you. Again."

"When did you arrest him?" Vee asked as she sat next to me, her head on my shoulder.

"Ew. Stop doing that—that—_love_ shit." Joe gagged.

"Do you want me to rest my head on _your_ shoulder?" Victoria asked as she turned over on the couch and put her head on Joe's shoulder. Joe's waist arched up for a moment as he farted. Victoria jumped away and screamed. "God, you're a dick!" Victoria yelled with a smile. Joe and I laughed.

"I'm sorry; I just… never felt love before. They're nervous farts. Honestly." Joe said sarcastically with a warm smile and his arms stretched out for a hug. Victoria switched back to me and kicked him playfully in the face.

"What are we doing?" This is what _fun_ is, now?" Joe asked us.

"I'm having fun." I shrugged.

"Me too." Victoria agreed.

"When last did we get drunk and did something stupid?" Joe asked us.

"I remember the last time you did, and it got you arrested." I told him.

"Seriously Joe, did you kill a guy?" Vee asked.

"He was pretty much dead, anyways-I have an idea!" Joe smiled as he jumped up and held his finger in the air.

"I'm not killing people for excitement. That was kind of what I thought you guys did for fun out here when I first met you." I expressed.

"No, ass-shit, shut up! The saloon's celebrating their new ownership, so they're having a contest that rewards us free booze!"

"No." Vee told him.

"This sounds like the first five minutes of a shitty radio sitcom." She added.

"It kinda does." I agreed.

"Stop… agreeing with each other, dammit! Stop liking each other!" Joe said in disgust.

"I hate you." I said to Vee with a smile.

"I hate you too." She smiled back at me.

"I hate you so much I wanna kill you." I laughed as we kissed.

"Maybe if we get you drunk, that'll happen."

"Oooh, sounds like a Friday night for Joe."

"Goddammit, let's go and get fuckin schwasted!" Joe shouted as he pulled Vee off of me and ran us to the saloon in the middle of the night. It was the only building lit up. Dozens of people were stockpiled outside, drinking and running around in a drunken stupor. Joe burst the door open, waving his gun around.

"Alright people!" He yelled in his commanding voice, quieting the bar as the seedier people fled.

"Who's winning this event?" He asked them in his powerful voice.

The Irish owner pointed to a woman with two shot glasses tied into her brown hair. Joe pointed to her, and she stared back at him.

"Ma'am…" Joe said in a grim and authorizing voice.

"…" The woman sat in silence along with the rest of the bar.

"We're gonna kick your ass tonight." He told her.

The bar cheered and roared as people played instruments and danced and sang. Vee held my hand as we walked up to the owner and smiled at Jab as he still kept his job. "So what's the name of the game?" I asked him.

"We've got a bushel of games, you see. Complete the most games get more points; win some beer and a special prize. Would you like to enter?" The owner asked.

Joe pounded his fist on the table. "Sign me up, baby!" Joe smiled at the woman as she smiled back, and drank her two shots.

"Us, too!" I nodded, raising my hand in the air. Vee cheered as the owner brought out drinks.

"Name's Colin. And the challenge for all who accept it is to take a shot of my little concoction; Nuka Spazz, I call it." He pointed to the three shots of a bright green liquid.

"Come on, not scared, are you, sheriff?" The winner teased Joe.

"I will take from you everything!" Joe yelled a battle cry as he took back the shot. He made a sharp face and swallowed hard. "I'm gonna see this in my pee." He told himself.

"Trust me, dude. You will." The woman patted him on the back.

"You ready?" I asked Vee as we lifted up our shot glasses, and intertwined our arms.

"Let's do it." She smiled as we drank it.

I slapped my hand on the table. "Holy shit, that tastes like acid and sugar!" I coughed.

"Aye." Colin nodded.

The woman took the shot and smiled afterwards and laughed in Joe's face.

"What's next, Colin?!" Joe asked angrily.

"One dart throw. Most points win!" Colin smiled as he showed us the dart board.

"Pfft. Easy." The woman scoffed.

"With _these_ on." Colin smiled as he handed her beer goggles.

"But I'm already drunk." The woman told him.

"Aye." Colin replied.

The woman shrugged and put the goggles on, holding the darts in her hand. The three of us stood up as the bar cleared away and watched us compete. The woman stuck her tongue out and aimed at the board as Joe walked up behind her and danced around. "Am I distracting you? Am I distracting you?" He asked as she smiled and laughed. She threw a dart; bull's-eye.

"Are you shitting me?" Joe asked in awe.

"In your perverted dreams, dude." The woman smiled as she handed him the goggles and slapped him on the ass, sending off for the big game.

Joe put the goggles on and aimed the dart carefully. "Hold on…" Joe said as he lowered his throwing arm for a moment.

"Jab!" Joe called to him.

"Get me a whiskey!"

The crowd cheered as Joe took a shot and aimed the dart again. We laughed at him as he threw, lifting up his back leg like a little girl throwing a basketball. He missed completely.

We laughed even harder at this as Joe lifted up his goggles and cursed at the board. Next up was me. Vee gave me an encouraging back rub as I aimed. "Come on, babe. You got this. Channel your inner marksman."

I threw the dart, and like magic, it hit the bull's eye. I, along with the crowd, cheered. Vee took the goggles and tossed her dart carelessly. It hit the two points.

"Better than Joe!" I called, making the crowd cheer.

"Dammit." Joe muttered as he too another shot.

"Next event!" Colin called.

"Let's do it!" Joe nodded as he took another shot.

"He's so gonna lose." I smiled as I whispered to Vee.

"Let him have his fun." She whispered back.

"Five-finger fillet!" Colin called out as he lifted up a sharp kitchen knife.

"Ooooh!" The crowd called.

"If I wasn't so drunk, I'd apprehend you for possessing a lethal weapon in a closed quarters situation." Joe slurred as he lifted up his assault rifle with one hand.

"But like I said… I'm drunk." He nodded as the woman patted his back like a baby and laughed.

"Tequila, Jab!" Joe shouted as he got another shot.

"Okay… okay, just don't yell." Jab replied.

"Who wants to go first?" I asked the group.

Joe swallowed his tequila quickly and raised his hand. "I'm first!"

"Did you time that? Fifteen minutes and drunk." I muttered to Vee. She gave a respectful clap. I laughed.

Joe plopped down at a cleared table and we sat around him. He stared daggers into the woman as she stared back with a smile. He lifted up the shining knife and slammed it down into the table. He tried to lift it up, but he couldn't lift it.

"It's stuck." He said slowly as he continued to stare into the woman's eyes.

"Uh… Joe…." Vee said calmly as we all stared at the tip of the knife directly stabbed into Joe's hand.

"I want to think that the knife didn't hit my hand, but… it really… hurts… a lot." Joe said slowly, still staring at the woman.

"Joe… you're disqualified." Colin said sadly to a quiet room.

"That's… more than fair." Joe nodded as he took the knife out of his hand and placed it on the table.

"Uh, light beer, Jab." Joe said quietly.

"Let's just move onto the next game!" Colin excited the crowd.

"I'll go and make sure he doesn't shoot that gun." Vee told me as she walked over to Joe.

"Kick her face in, buddy!" Joe yelled to me as he lifted his glass to me, spraying random bar guests with blood from the hole in his hand.

"Put your hand down, put your hand down!" Vee yelled at him as she wrapped it up with a cloth.

"Let's just do a final event, since it's three in the morning, shall we?" Colin asked. The crowd agreed with wide awake cheers.

"Follow me outside, folks! Bring your drinks!" Colin exclaimed as Vee led Joe and the woman outside as I followed.

Colin pointed to two parallel water pipes exiting from the stars below us and traveling throughout the town, the two both following each other.

"The winner of these games will be the one who follows these pipes to Moira's the fastest!" Colin explained.

The woman scoffed at the sight and folded her arms.

"You cocky… hot, woman… bitch!" Joe shook his fist at her. She laughed and covered her mouth with her hand.

"You got it, Jace!" Victoria cheered for me as the woman and I hopped over the guard rails and landed on the pipes.

"This is really unsafe. We should call the sheriff or something." I said as we looked down the two story drop.

"Good idea." The woman nodded. "Sheriff!" She called to Joe.

"Stop flirting with me!" Joe yelled back. She laughed again.

"JAB! RUM AND COKE!" Joe called.

"Stop yelling!" Jab called back.

"Begin!" Colin shouted as the woman and I clung to the pipes and slugged across them.

Rusted and still being used, we inched across the water pipes as the crowd cheered for us. I tried my best not to look down, but it was just too tempting. We were higher than I thought, and only halfway there at that point. "Come on, Jace!" Vee called to me.

"Shut up! This is scarier than I anticipated!" I yelled back.

"What happened to those balls I saw earlier?!" She called back.

"Ew!" Joe called in the distance.

"Ah, fuck it." I told myself as I stood up on the pipe and balanced myself on it, walking forward to my victory. The woman carefully inched to the end, where the crowd ran around us.

"FREE BEER! HE WON THE _FUCKING_ FREE BEER!" Joe screamed as he ran to me and lifted me up, spinning me around until he got dizzy.

Vee ran up and hugged me. I laughed and sighed out in relief as the woman patted me on the back. I held Vee with one arm, and lifted up my other arm, raising a finger.

"To the bar! FREE DRINKS for everyone!" I shouted to the cheering hoards of drunk people.

"YES!" Joe shouted. "JAAAAAAAB!" Joe shouted across Megaton.

"WHAAAAT?!" Jab called back from the saloon.

"FLAMING TEQUILA SHOTS!"

"Why are you treating me like this?!" Jab shouted in sadness.

We moved back to the bar as Colin stood behind the counter. "Your prize is back here, boyo." Colin told me as he led me to the back room. I walked into the room, where Joe was sitting with a box.

"You owe me." Colin told Joe.

"I know." Joe nodded.

"What's up?" I asked, confused by how sober Joe sounded.

"Take this, buddy." Joe told me as he handed me a wooden box. I opened it to see a ring with a diamond at the end of it. I stared in confusion as it was surrounded in blue cushion, like it was important.

"What is this?" I asked as I lifted it up.

"Listen, that's a wedding ring. Vee just had one of the best nights in months. I want you to give that to Veronica and ask her to marry you. And she'll say yes and you guys will guarantee to spend the rest of your lives reading my book and farting alone or whatever." Joe said in a serious tone.

"How'd you get sober so quickly?" I asked him.

"Oh, geez." Colin sighed as he left the room.

"I staged the whole event so I can give you guys a fun night with each other, so giving her that ring will mean more to her."

"I thought you were grossed out by us." I asked him.

Joe sighed and exhaled all the sarcasm that he had built up.

"If there's any guy in this world that'll take care of Vee more than me, it's you, Jace. She knows that, too. So do me a favor and stop acting like a dipshit and marry that girl, okay?" He asked me with a smile.

"So I climbed on that pipe… why?"

"Oh my God, I'm going to get arrested again tonight if you don't leave this room and do it now, Jace."

"Are sure you didn't have anything to drink tonight?" I asked him.

"That girl out there gave me something."

I nodded and turned away.

"And Jace—"

"Yeah?" I asked Joe.

"Go on one knee when you ask her."

"Argh, my knee's been hurting lately." I complained.

"You're testin' my fucking patience."

I gave Joe the box back and held the ring in my hand as people continued to play music and talk and shout and fight. "Excuse me, guys! Can I have your attention?" I called to the crowd. They did not respond.

A gunshot rang out as Joe held his assault rifle.

"Ah shit, I forgot the safety was off!" Joe yelled as he looked to see that he shot the 2nd place winner of the bar "games".

"Oh no, I shot the hot girl!" Joe yelled as he ran over to her leg wound and held it.

"Ow…" She moaned to him.

"I'm really sorry." Joe told her.

"Its fine. You can make it up to me by taking me out."

"Uh… fuck yeah! What's your name?" Joe asked her in his victory.

"Natalie."

"I'm Joe. And seriously, we need to get you to a doctor, that thing is bleeding _everywhere_."

"Alright, then… now that I have your attention. I'd like to make an announcement." I called to the people of the room.

I turned to Veronica as she stood there, waiting my announcement. "Veronica. In the company of my best friend who's making out with a bleeding girl and most of the town…" I gripped the ring in my hand and bent down to one knee. "Will you marry me?"

"Wow, you're proposing to me at three in the morning in a bar, half-drunk?" Veronica asked me.

"Shut up and say 'yes', you shit." I smiled at her.

"Where does this cockiness come from?" She smiled at me.

"Who knows."

"_Yes_, you dick." She laughed as I got up and kissed her. The crowd cheered as Joe gave a thumbs up in our general direction, not turning away from his make-out session with Natalie.

"Now what, Joe?" I called to him as he sucked on Natalie's face.

"Uh… I dunno. Go away, live life, you're married now, okay? Jus—just go away, Jace!" Joe yelled as he swatted us away.

"I can't believe this guy wrote a book." Vee told me as we walked out of the bar.

"I still can't believe this guy writes." I responded.


	14. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13: Newlyweds **

The townspeople congratulated their mayor for the next weeks. Joe didn't seem like he had time to see us, since he was with his new "lady friend", Natalie. For the next couple months, the three of us have gotten busy with renovating the town, even if we all couldn't see each other do it. Bunkhouses for people to sleep in were built for people who can't afford Moriarty's rooms. Victoria hired people to scavenge food for the vault and the town. Before we knew it, the town was thriving with newcomers from other towns. Any raider who got close to the town was swiftly executed by our new and improved guards, who have been trained by Joe and I. Weapons have been shipped to Megaton so the townspeople and guards can feel safer. Sniper rifles have been shipped in for our new watch tower, along with more automatic rifles for the outside guards and patrols. Things were looking better out here, for us, and the town, and better yet, me. Victoria and I have been together for a long time, and our relationship was unbreakable by anything and anyone. Joe has gotten used to our relationship over time, we figured this out by the jokes he made towards us while we worked. Victoria started living with me as soon as our new house was built and we moved out of our old one. For once, things out here were finally looking up, and it was about to get better.

I was trimming my hair and beard in my bathroom one day when Victoria walked in with Joe.

"Jace, it's us, come downstairs!" Victoria shouted.

I walked downstairs and saw Joe and Victoria sitting at the dining table.

"Come here, I've got to tell you both something." She said, sitting down.

I walked to the table where Victoria left water and some cups. I sat down and Joe grabbed a cup and started to drink, inspecting it as he drank it.

"Eh, I'd rather have some booze. Drinking this is just-"

"I'm pregnant." Victoria interrupted. Joe choked on his water and spat it up onto the floor.

"Christ, Jace! I didn't even know you knew how to do that!" Joe exclaimed.

"Are you sure?" I asked, ignoring Joe's outburst.

"The mothers around here told me after I told them about my symptoms; they say I'm most likely pregnant." She said.

"That's great!" I laughed.

"Call me uncle Joe!" Joe yelled. We laughed.

"So, you're happy?" Victoria asked. I forgot to smile at her, so I did.

"Happy? I'm ecstatic! I'm… gonna be a father! What about you?" I asked.

"I'm just as happy as you are about it, but it's just that... I don't know if I'm actually pregnant. Is there any way to find out?" Victoria asked.

"The vault has pregnancy and gender tests, we could go there." I guessed.

"Alright, we could do that." She nodded. I got up and hugged her. I then smiled as much as I could and we kissed.

We packed up our things and headed for the vault. We've memorized the path to the vault and could go there with our eyes closed now, as Joe and I were the lead caravan drivers for the trading missions. The trip there seemed fast, before we knew it, we were already there. We went to Rachel's office to ask her where they were. She was working fast at her desk, with papers and technologies scattered all around her.

"Hey guys, what do you need?" Rachel asked.

"Hey there, Rachel..." Joe said as he inched closer to her.

"Joe, if I told you once, I've told you a million times already, I'm not going out with you, get that through your head." Rachel said. Joe sighed.

"That's fine, Rachel..." Joe said. "Bitch…" He whispered in the same optimistic voice he used in the beginning.

"He's got a pretty deep relationship with this girl already." Vee told her.

"How gentlemanly of him." Rachel smiled slightly.

"Yeah, they also like to break up every second month."

"Wow, a good round number, so what is it you guys would like?" Rachel asked.

"We need some pregnancy and baby gender tests." I smiled.

"Sure, we have a bunch of those, who's it for? If you don't mind me asking." Rachel questioned.

"It's for Victoria; we want to know if she's pregnant." I said.

"Oh, okay. They're in the doctor's office." She smiled.

"Thanks, Rachel." I nodded.

The three of us walked out towards the office. I thought I heard a sigh on the way out of the office, but I wasn't too sure. We went inside the office and saw a robot inside with several metal arms with medical tools on it, sticking out of its circular body. It floated in the air by a small jet coming from below it. I looked at it, confused. Joe raised an eyebrow at it.

"What are you?" I asked.

"Mr. Handy model number 10b-1187a 'Andy'." The robot said in a posh tone.

"Your name's Andy, huh? What are you doing here?" I asked.

"I have been issued here to perform medical treatment on subjects, sir." Andy said.

"So, you replaced my father, is that it? Great. Do you have any pregnancy and gender tests around here?" I asked.

"Of course, sir. The containment unit behind me holds several." Andy explained.

"Thanks." I said, with an ungrateful tone.

"I—I don't think I like robots, Jace." Joe whispered to me as he stared at the floating machine.

I walked to the closet behind Andy and opened it. I found the tests and took one of each. I gave it to Victoria.

"It has the instructions on it. Good luck." I said.

"I don't need luck. This isn't a speech I'm making in the bathroom, Jace."

"The amount of time you spend in there…" Joe mumbled.

Victoria read the instructions and elbowed Joe at the same time as she walked away. We waited in Rachel's office for Victoria to come by with the news. She walked inside the door. Rachel, Joe and I looked at her with our eyes wide open.

"I'm having a girl!" She screamed.

We jumped up and cheered.

"Congratulations!" Rachel smiled.

"Thanks! So, what are we going to name it?" Victoria asked.

"Svetlana, the only woman who scored a 9 on the sexy-scale." Joe said.

"No." We all said at once.

"How about Xanex?" Rachel suggested as she typed quickly into her terminal with a pencil tied into her loosely made bun.

"Uh… no." Vee denied.

"Dammit this kid's gonna be born before we can name it." I sighed.

Joe looked at the floor and bit his lip. "What about Sarah?"

"Hold on, was that a serious suggestion?" I asked, surprised and sarcastic.

"I can be serious sometimes." Joe folded his arms.

"I like it, what about you guys?" I asked them.

"I like it!" Victoria said.

"I guess it's better than Xanex."

"Hold on. Svetlana." Joe snapped.

We ignored Joe, and Victoria and I hugged and kissed.

"I just hope she'll be safe with Chain still around." Victoria muttered.

My smile went into a frown quickly. "We'll hire more guards and doctors, then. Easy fix, Vee." Joe said, putting his arms back.

"Yeah…" I said, trying my best to fake the fear I felt.

"I hope it will be..." Victoria said, looking around.

"I promise it will be. Okay?" I lied to her, and I knew it at that very instant.

We said our goodbyes to Rachel and started to walk out, but Rachel told me to stay. I waited inside while Joe and Victoria kept walking.

"Yeah, what's up?" I asked.

"Jace, I have a question." Rachel said.

"Sure, what is it?" I asked.

"You know we have room in the vault, why don't you live back here, in your home? I mean, do you really want a kid to grow up out there?" She asked.

I thought about it for a moment and turned my body fully to her.

"I've spent a long time out here, and met so many people, been through so many things and from what I went through here, I can't have a baby grow up in here. There's just too many things… weird here. You know?" I asked as Joe and Victoria were talking excitedly on the baby outside.

"Have you met Svetlana?! We can't even find any bras that fit her!" Joe yelled outside.

Rachel nodded. "Yeah… I know. Well, alright. If you change your mind, there's always room for you here." Rachel said with a smile.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot, can I have some of the books our parents used to read to us when we were little? I want to give it to Victoria as a present." I whispered.

"Sure thing, Jace." Rachel showed me her white teeth. She gathered the books from the nursery and gave them to me. I put them in my pack with a smile.

"Thanks, Rachel, you're the best!" I exclaimed.

"Yeah, I know. Good luck." She smiled and waved to me.

The door to her office closed as Rachel slumped in her seat and scratched her forehead. She lifted up some papers and documents related to birth and read through them, entering the information into the terminal under 'Project Legacy'. She quickly got up and lifted a black marker and began to write on the window overlooking the atrium. She wrote down computed codes and arrows with intersecting lines along with random names that even she didn't know. These names cross-connected to others while some had check marks, some didn't. She backed away and sighed, dropping the marker and erasing all of her work sloppily, leaving black smears along the window. She picked the marker back up and began to write down the lines and codes again, glancing back at the birth records and recording specific parts of them. She slept in her office that night.

Joe held up to his words and hired more guards with the extra money his book is earning. "Joe's Guide to Wasteland Knowledge" has sold a lot of copies and is popular with many people who plan on leaving the vault, as well as many people from other cities who just want to learn about how to survive outside the confines of a city. A school has been made, and a great homework tool is Joe's book. We've also installed a training area for the new guards, made the doctor's office bigger, and made a farm to grow crops from the seeds that we have purchased from cities further away from the city. Megaton has grown four times as larger than it was before, and the number of people coming into the city has increased exponentially. The three of us have made the city thrive, and have become local celebrities in the process. When the renovation spree calmed down, we sat back and continued with our normal businesses. I wish I could fill in the next few months with something more exciting, but that's a pregnancy for you. It's just morning sickness and catching up on sleep.

One morning, I was off of work, letting the new trainee's run for the day. I walked to the office, and saw Joe talking to his new protégé, a young boy named Michael, who was the top scoring trainee in town. He had a blonde crew cut, and always wore his blue guard armor.

"Nah, just use regular 5.56, hollow points are way too expensive to make, and besides we haven't seen a problem in a while, so no need for the overkill." Joe told him.

"Alright. They just look so cool." Michael smiled.

"It doesn't matter about how good you look, because I already beat you in that department." Joe joked, and the two laughed.

"You're right, Joe. You're the best. I love y—"

"Hey, Joe." I nodded.

"What's up, buddy?" Joe asked me as Michael backed away for a moment and quickly cleaned his gun. He stared at me as Joe patted my back.

"Have you seen Victoria? I wanted to give her a present." I said, holding my bag where the books were.

"I think she's out in the garden." Michael informed me.

"All the way out there?" I asked hectically. "I always tell her not to make that trip when she's like this. The baby could come at any moment, and I don't want her to be all the way outside the city-"

"Take it easy Jace. Just go and see her, I'm sure she'll be happy to get those books." Joe said with a smile, slapping my shoulder. Michael winced loudly as he looked at us. We both looked at him.

"Uh… finger got caught." He said as he looked at his gun.

"Yeah... yeah I'll just go see her, then." I said, walking out of the room and waking outside.

"Since when did you become such a baby?" Joe asked his protégé.

"I dunno Joe. I'm trying, I'm gonna get better, trust me, sir—Joe, sir."

"Sure…" Joe looked at him and walked away.

I quickly walked outside, holding the books behind my back and smiling as I walked out into the farm, almost jogging out there in happiness. As I walked up the hill that overlooked the farm, I looked down at her as she talked to a group of men that didn't look like they were living here. I squinted down at them as she pushed them away and pumped her gauntlet. My eyes shot up and I ran down the hill, putting my books away. I heard shouting.

"VICTORIA!" I shouted as I ran towards my wife.

Victoria punched one of them in the stomach, sending them back. Another woman with short, fire orange hair then took her and held her in a headlock, aiming her pistol at me as I tried to reach for my pistol. I held my arms up and looked at Victoria as I stared helplessly at her.

"Don't move another muscle, hubby!" The woman commanded as the man to her side pulled out something from his pocket.

"Let her go, now!" I commanded.

"Screw you, Deputy Dumbass! Have fun with the baby! Oh wait..." The woman then broke out into a snicker as she dragged Victoria away.

"She's pregnant, stop!" I screamed as I ran into the farm to get them.

"No shit, didn't you laugh at my joke?!" The girl asked.

The man then pulled out a Molotov and threw it into the farm in front of me, sending up a huge flame, and engulfing the garden in a great fire, forcing me to retreat. I moved back and tried to see through the smoke, but it was no use. Finally, the flame died down, and the raiders were nowhere to be found. I looked around, practically spinning in circles as I tried to find them. I then ran as fast as I could into the city, and slammed the door open to Joe's office.

"So you like animals?" Joe asked Natalie as she sat on his lap.

"Joe." I said frantically, running my fingers through my hair.

"We'll take this up later." Joe said as she walked out.

"Wow, she's totally a nine on the sexy-scale." Joe smiled as he turned his eyes to me, and frowned.

"What's wrong?" Joe asked, calling Michael in the room.

"What is it, buddy?" Michael asked Joe.

"Don't call me that." Joe said quickly.

Michael's eyes seemed betrayed by the words. "Bu—"

"They have Victoria." I said, tearing up my words, and pacing around the room.

"Who?" He asked.

"Raiders. They took her and burned down the farm. I don't know where they went; we have to hurry up before..." I breathed in.

"Relax, Michael's a good tracker, he can lead the troops into their hideout." Joe said as he took a hunting rifle from a gun rack.

"No._ No_—"

"Calm down, Jace. It's okay." Joe told me.

"They'll kill her if they see us. Don—Don't bring the troops."

"We have to be quiet on this." Michael said.

"He's right. Are you sure you can find them?" Joe asked Michael.

"If they have feet, I can track them." He nodded.

"They have feet right?" Joe asked me. I glared at him.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" I asked.

"Easy, dude. Lay off." Michael told me as he stepped in front of Joe and held onto his shoulder. "Nooope." Joe said quietly as he brushed Michael's hand from his shoulder.

"Get your weapons and let's get moving." I said, pulling out my magnum and popping out the cylinder and checking my ammunition amount.

Michael and Joe took out ammunition and weapons and put it in their holsters. We then quickly moved outside, telling all the citizens who spotted smoke to remain calm as we handle the situation. I led the two outside and up the hill to the farm. Joe sighed and turned away from the blackened farm.

"Oh Christ…" Joe looked around the burnt crops.

"Where did you see them last?" Michael asked me.

"Down here." I said, sliding down the hill and running to the spot where I last saw Victoria. Michael then kneeled down at the spot, feeling the dirt.

"There's signs of them here, and they lead that way." Michael said, pointing out of the farm.

With the help of Michael's tracking skills, we followed a path in the dirt, looking around for them and keeping low to the ground. We finally made it to a cave not too far from Megaton. Joe held out a flashlight and peered inside with it as Michael and I pulled out our weapons.

"Remember your training Mike, and we can still get out of here with Victoria." Joe told him quietly.

"Don't worry about it, I learned from the best. Do you think I should get a bandana?" Michael said with a smile as he blinked slowly at Joe. Joe turned back at him.

"Are you ga—"

"Now's not the time for this." I said as I aimed my pistol down the dark cave.

"You son of a bitch." Michael muttered to me.

We walked deeper into the cave, where it opened up into a camp, where there was fire in the center, surrounded by a group of raiders laughing and drinking.

"Yeah, he'll be up here next week for her." A raider said.

"How much are we getting for this?" Another asked.

"A good amount, no doubt. She's on the list."

The three of us crept into the cave and startled the raiders by our noise. They got up, some of them falling over, while the others pulled out their guns. I fired into them, running into cover.

"_Where's my wife?!_" I shouted in my cover.

"She about to be just like you, dead!" A raider shouted.

I ran out of my cover and ran at the raider, shooting him in the chest and charging into him, sending him into a box of food. I stared down at him and clenched my fists. I turned around to a raider aiming a shotgun at me. I put my hands up as the raider picked the shotgun up to his eyes, looking through the sights, and aiming the barrel at my head. A shot fired at the raider made him look at me for a moment quizzically. He felt his chest and looked at me.

"Wait, what the f-" A bullet raced through his head and he fell to the ground. I turned to Michael, who nodded at me and showed me deeper into the cave, aiming his pistol at the darkness. I pulled Joe off of a dead raider and he looked at the raider that almost killed me. My hands clammy and balled up I walked forward, looking around for Victoria.

Joe and I ran ahead of Michael and into a room where raiders stood in front of cages with people in it. The raiders were ready for me, aiming rifles and pistols at us. I looked into a cage and saw Victoria inside of it, looking at us and holding her power fist.

"Victoria!" I shouted as I walked forward. The raiders then cocked their weapons at me, making me stop.

"Well look-ie here! We've got some volunteering help!" A raider smiled as she aimed an assault rifle at me. I recognized her short orange hair and realized she was the one that took Victoria.

"Let her go, and we'll leave." I told them.

"I have a better idea! What about 'no'? Asshole?" The raider answered.

"Drop your weapons." She ordered us. Joe and I then bowed, and dropped our weapons on the ground.

"Now get in the cage." She commanded as she opened up a cage door, directly across from Victoria.

"Fuck you!" I shouted. I felt something poke at my back.

"Get in the cage, Jace." Michael's voice told me.

Joe turned around to see the boy. "Michael? Oh, you're breaking my heart, and now I'm going to have to break your ass."

"And you say _I'm _the gay one?" Michael asked.

"You totally are. Have you seen your haircut?"

"IT'S THE SAME AS YOURS! And just so you know, I'll happily use my _hollow points_ on both of you… you know… because hollow points are _badass_. Now... get in the cage." Michael said angrily.

"You happy now, Joe? You've finally got a fan." I sighed.

"I'm not a fan! I'm his BEST FRIEND!" Michael yelled as he kicked my knees.

"Where were you when he and I had to fight through a radscorpion den?! Because I was there and we fought them all off!" Michael screamed.

Joe and I started to walk slowly to the large metal cage as the raiders peered at us with their weapons. I turned to Victoria as she stared at us, breathing heavily. She then gasped and held her stomach with both of her hands, screaming and falling to the ground, holding her stomach.

"Holy shit, what's wrong now?" The woman asked.

"The baby... she's coming..." Victoria moaned and sweat.

"Oh shut up and stop trying to shift our attention." The woman said.

Michael's feet sloshed. "I'm uh… I'm stepping in… uh…"

"Ew, you've got to be kidding me!"" She screamed as she stepped back. The raiders then backed away and stared at Victoria as she breathed heavily and started to sweat. As the raiders backed away in disgust, I jumped out and punched the woman as hard as I could in the face, throwing out my shoulder way too much and making me bend over to my knees as the woman fell. Joe then kicked up his rifle and held it by the barrel, and smacked Michael in the head with the stock, knocking him down. Joe then turned and fired at a raider, pulling the bolt action afterwards. Victoria screamed through her contractions and got to her feet, punching through the bars and sending them into a raider, impaling him with metal rods. She then stumbled to walk.

"I just punched a woman in the face." I huffed, disgusted in saying those words.

"It's okay, she was a bitch. It brought her down to a six on the sexy-scale." Joe shrugged.

"Shut up about the sexy-scale! I'M HAVING A GODDAMN BABY!" Victoria screamed as she fell onto me.

"And _I'm_ having hearing problems for the rest of my life if you keep that up, Vee." Joe replied. Vee looked at Joe's face for a moment, and brought down the mother of all elbows into his ribs. Joe arched back and took a breathed as it slapped against him. Michael used that moment to slide kicked Joe to the ground and get up, picking up his rifle and running back into the cave. He lit a match and threw it at the ground, igniting gasoline and illuminating the cave to the words "MARRY ME?"

"You've got to be shitting me." Joe grutned from the ground as I held Vee back.

"I've got this, guys." Joe said to us as he got up slowly.

"Mike…" Joe called to him.

"I need you, Joe! I NEED YOU!" Michael screamed as he ran at Joe with a knife.

"Joe looked out!" I yelled at him as Michael slashed it into Joe's face. Joe screamed and fell back as he held his face. He got up slowly and turned back to us, grabbing at a bald patch in his thick beard.

Joe's eyes shot open wide. "Did you just—"

Michael taped Joe's beard hair to his chin and wrapped a red bandana around his head.

"I need you! I NEED TO BE YOU!" Michael yelled as the fire ignited tables and food boxes.

"Vee, stay here." I told my wife as I ran over to aid Joe.

"NOOOO! NOT YOOUU!" Michael bellowed as he fired at me.

Joe pushed me away into cover as Michael screamed hysterically and fired at the rock.

"I said I got this!" Joe yelled at me.

"What the hell are you talking about?! He stole your beard and bandana!" I yelled back.

"You're not his best friend! I AAAAAM!" Michael yelled to the heavens.

"Shut up with your bromance and fucking kill this guy already!" Victoria shouted through her contractions.

Michael pulled out a bottle of whiskey and chugged the bottle. "ALCOHOL MAKES ME FUNNIER!" Michael screeched after the swig.

"This is absolutely ridiculous!" Joe shouted at the parody of himself.

Michael took another sip of booze and ran over to Joe.

"I love you, BUDDY! Let's get drunk and get into fights because I don't know how to mask my feelings!" Michael laughed as he tackled Joe to the ground and slashed off more beard hair. I ran over to Michael and jumped on his back as he ran out of the way, taking us both to the side. He soon fell after his quick turn and we both fell to the ground. Michael kicked me away and I returned to my cover spot.

"You fucking shit! I'm not like that at all!" Joe shouted as he felt skin where beard used to be.

Michael taped the hairs onto his mouth and fired at my cover spot.

"I just don't want to be lonely! So I mark women on a scale to undermine them to the point where they feel their self-esteem is equal to mine!" Michael yelled.

"How much thought have you put into this shit?!" Joe shouted back.

"EVERY THOUGHT! YOU—ARE MY—EVERYTHING!"

"Joe…" I called over impatiently.

"If you two cock-birds don't solve this soon, I'm going to stab you both in your UERETHRAS!" Victoria yelled in pain, sobbing in pain afterwards.

"Joe, I really don't want that to happen!" I yelled through the firefight.

"What the fuck do you want _me_ to do, _marry_ him?!" Joe yelled. I raised both eyebrows at the prospect.

"Fuck you, Jace!" Joe pointed at me as a stray bullet hit the rock ground.

We looked to see Michael holding a half-empty whiskey bottle and firing lazily at us.

"Cool, he's drunk, now can we plea—"

"FUCKING KILL HIM ALREADY!" Vee screeched.

Joe and I ran from cover at Michael as he licked the beard hairs on his mouth and lifted his rifle at us. He pointed it at me and pulled the trigger as Joe tackled him to the ground. The bullet missed and sparked off the chain gate of Vee's prison cell. Joe slammed his fist into Michael and lifted him up. Michael ran into Joe and hugged him warmly as Joe backed away in disgust.

"I—I love you! I Looove you!" Michael sobbed.

Joe pushed him away as Michael lifted up his rifle and bashed it against Joe's head using the room Joe gave him.

"Are you serious, Joe?!" I yelled at him.

"He smells like sweat and oil!" Joe argued as I ran at Michael and grabbed the rifle barrel and threw it to the side.

"Get away from me!" Michael yelled as retched free from my grasp.

"He doesn't like you! He likes me! He calls me 'buddy' and gives me pats on the back!" Michael sobbed at me.

"I… I have feelings like Joe, and… I keep them locked away under all my facial hair and drinking!" Michael cried at me pathetically. I rolled my eyes to let the kid vent.

"I'm the comedic release of the group and I keep heavy situations light with my sarcasm!" He continued. I folded my arms.

"Sometimes… sometimes I like to write books because I'm secretly deep and brooding…"

"And… and another thing, there are times where I can't decide what's good and bad and so I decide to save whatever's closest to family an—"

Joe bashed the back of Michael's head violently with his rifle from behind and echoed out a scream and smack as Michael dropped to the floor instantly.

"Oh my God… he's so annoying…" Joe exhaled.

"I'm not like that, right?" Joe looked up at me.

"Eh." I shrugged.

Vee inhaled and shook her head. "I'm gonna kill you… I'm gonna kill you both. You—two—FUCK-STUMPS!"

"One second, honey!" I called over to her as I ran to aid my wife.

Joe stared down at Michael and held his rifle at his head.

"I know what you're going to say. I could have done better if I lived a pure life." Michael sighed at him.

"No, I was just going to say you're nothing like me and I hate you." Joe told him quickly.

"Wha-" Joe fired into Michael's head and lowered it gun afterwards, closing his eyes and shaking his head at the body, he then turned to the unconscious red haired woman and fired. He then smiled at his rifle. "Where was that booze?" Joe asked as he picked up the bottle and drank from it.

"I really do like this thing." Joe said to himself as he appreciated the rifle. I quickly smacked the bottle from his head and broke the glass on the ground with my free hand as I helped carry Victoria away. Joe then holstered his weapon and helped carry Victoria out of the cave.

"I know this isn't the time Vee, but you are _way_ heavier than the last time I carried you." Joe grunted as we ran outside, making haste to Megaton.

"I've got a friggen' baby in my stomach, you idiot!" Victoria screamed.

"And she's already got to lay off the cake. Make sure you give her Barbies to play with, okay?"


	15. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14: The Legacy**

We made it as fast as we could to the city, screaming at the guards to open the gate. Victoria screamed as Joe and I eased her. Walter heard the screams and ran to us.

"What's wrong?" He asked as he wiped his hands with a cloth.

"HOLY SHIT, IS IT THAT HARD TO FIGURE OUT?!" Victoria screamed as she blew away a strand of loose hair from her face.

"Oh, she's having a baby!" Walter smiled as he walked to us.

"NO-SHIT!" Vee screamed between hard breaths.

He helped me carry her to the doctor. We opened the door and carried her inside. A nurse looked surprised and called for doctors to help her. They walked her to a bed and told me to wait outside until she's ready. Walter was already sitting on a bench. I sat next to him.

"This is a happy day, you should be excited." Walter said calmly.

"I just hope she's alright." I said as I held my knees.

"Don't worry, you'll be fine, man. Cheer up." Walter said, slapping my arm.

We waited there for an hour until the doctors told me to go inside. She sweated profusely and I grabbed her hand, trying to ease her through this. They told me to walk her through her contractions.

"Alright, push!" The doctor instructed.

Victoria screamed loudly and threw her head up, squeezing my hand as hard as she could.

"It's okay, Victoria, you're going to be fine." I eased her.

"No shit you fucking dipshit. It—hurts—NOW!" She screamed, almost weeping.

"Well if you just going to treat me like that I'll just le—"

"Don't even talk like him for a second!" Vee yelled at me, referencing Joe.

She squeezed my hand hard and continued to scream.

I kept telling her to focus on breathing and pushing. Her pained cries were heard throughout the building, and possibly even the town.

"Control your breathing; I can see the baby's head!" The doctor said.

She screamed louder and louder every time the doctors told her progress. My hand was red from being squeezed, but not as red as Victoria, who now is sweating like she's been next to a fire for an hour.

"She's almost out, just one last, big push!" The doctor ordered.

She screamed louder than any noise I've ever heard in my entire life. I heard the door creak open and saw Joe peek in. He had shaven the rest of his beard off.

"Hey guys I just got back together with Natalie, is everything alright he-"

He looked at what the doctors were doing and stared with his mouth open. His face of surprise turned to a face of horror as he found out what the doctors were really doing. He turned away from the door and ran away. Victoria continued to scream as I told her to breathe and then push.

"There she is!" The doctor exclaimed, holding up the bloody, crying, baby.

Victoria caught her breath, yet continued holding my hand.

"You did it Victoria." I sighed in relief, kissing her on the forehead.

"I'm sorry… I'm sorry I yelled at you." She breathed hard.

"I totally understand. Although I do take it as a personal offense."

The doctors took the baby away and sanitized her, wrapped her in a cloth and gave her to Victoria. She held the baby in her arms and looked at her. She had brown eyes and starting to close them as she went to sleep.

"Hi Sarah, I'm your mommy, and this is your daddy..." Victoria said softly, still out of breath after hours of screaming.

"So that's her name? Sarah?" The doctor asked us.

"Yes…" Vee smiled as she looked at her husband and best friends as she thought of a middle name.

"Sarah Josephine Marston." She told us.

"She's beautiful." Victoria told me.

"Just like her mommy." I smiled and put my arm around Victoria.

Joe slowly opened the door to the room and popped his head in.

"I… I heard that you shit yourself when you give birth." Joe said in a slow, child-like way.

"I don't want to see your patchy, red fucking face for the rest of the day, Joe." Vee said calmly as she stroked Sarah's head.

"Okay. Bye guys." Joe said quietly as his head retracted and closed the door.

We went back home in the next few days. A large group of people, including Moira, Jab, Joe, and Walter, cheered for us as I pushed Victoria outside in a wheelchair. We then went home. Walter made us a crib out of spare wood and wrapped it in cloth. He also made some toys for her out of cloth and stuffing.

"I can't thank you enough for this, Walter." I said, shaking his hand, and giving him money.

"No problem. What's this?" He asked.

"I think it's time I paid you back." I smiled as I walked away.

We laid Sarah in her crib and put her blanket over her. Joe walked inside, eager to see the baby. He walked up to the crib and stared at her.

"I saw too much of you that day, Vee. I'm not sure if I can look at you the same way again." Joe looked over to the baby. "Wow...she looks better than you, Vee." Joe whispered gently. "I've got it." I eased Vee as I elbowed him in the ribs.

"You two have gotten really good at that." Joe choked from the blow.

Joe grouped the three of us together, me in one arm, and Victoria in the other.

"You see this? You guys did this! With your adult parts!" Joe smiled. We gently pushed him off.

I waited until night and called Victoria over to the baby's room. I showed her the books that I kept with me.

"How'd you get these?" She asked, surprised by my present.

"Rachel gave us them as a present." I told her with a smile.

"When?" She asked.

"When we first found out you were having a baby. I've kept them a secret until now. You should really trust me less. I keep so many secrets from you; I'm pretty much a spy." I smiled, brushing off my shoulders in my great feat of hiding something from her.

"You're the best." She said. She kissed me.

"And you've got four seconds until this house explodes." I joked.

We started reading the books to Sarah every night. Victoria sung to her all the time, despite Joe's constant reminder of her "bird voice". Before I went to sleep, I would kiss Sarah's forehead. If I didn't, she would wake up in the middle of the night and cry. I would then get up and rock her to sleep and then kiss her goodnight. Victoria saw how happy I was with the baby, and would let me read to her all the time. I don't know why, but I started to shave my beard and trim my hair regularly. I started to calm down more, with my job and my life.

As the years went on, Sarah started to grow in teeth and talk. Soon she was able to walk thanks to some help by her parents, as Joe still stumbled like a baby, especially when he was drunk. Her blackening hair grew longer everyday so we had to give her regular haircuts to keep it at a normal length. The next 3 years seemed like it flew by. But still, a constant reminder stuck in the back of my head. There was still danger out there, and there wasn't a thing I could do to stop it. I was outside fixing the steps so they didn't creak or rattle when we walked up them. Sarah then walked up to me.

"What are you doing, daddy?" Sarah asked.

"I'm fixing the stairs." I smiled.

"So I don't fall when I walk up them?"

"Yeah. I don't want your noggin getting a bump on it anymore." I hugged her and kissed her forehead. She giggled.

"Is uncle Joe staying for dinner tonight?" She asked.

"Of course he is, but you make sure you don't touch his big-boy juice, okay? It's not for you. To be honest, it's not for him either, but Uncle Joe has a problem with that stuff and most people decide to just let it fester because they're afraid of what's gonna happen if they try to separate him from it!"

Sarah stared at me.

"Hey, daddy? Wanna play a game?" She asked.

"Sure, I can spare the time. What do you want to play?" I asked as I crouched down to her level.

"Let's play hide-and-seek!" You count first. I'll hide." She said excitedly.

"Okay, kiddo." I said as I cupped my hands over my eyes. I purposely opened my fingers so I could see her.

"You're cheating!" She said as she pointed at me, smiling.

"I'm sorry." I said chuckling.

"Okay, start counting!" Sarah said.

"1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10! Ready or not, here I come!" I shouted.

Sarah left the door open, so I checked inside the house. I saw her immediately under the table, but I acted like I didn't. Victoria smiled at me as I snooped around the house.

"Hello, miss. Have you seen a little girl around here?" I asked.

"No, no I haven't." Victoria said, playing along with the joke.

"And I _definitely_ didn't see her under the table!" Victoria said.

"Oh well, thank you anyway, miss. I hope you're not harboring a fugitive. She's been on the run for months now and probably smells like poo." I said with a smile. I heard Sarah gasp in with my insult.

I continued to search around the house, checking in closets and under beds. I eventually went to the table and started to circle it. I circled the table a few times until I quickly jumped under it to spook her.

"Found y—"

Sarah was no longer there. My playful smile changed to an inquisitive smirk as I got up and looked at Victoria. "Hey have you seen Sarah?" I asked her.

"Is this a playful question or do you seriously not kn—"

The conversation in our house along with every other house in Megaton was cut short due to a piercing gunshot. A sound so identifiable with us that we knew exactly what it was. We stood in silence and looked at each other. We heard yelling in the distance, then more gunfire. People were shooting everywhere it sounded like.

"_Jace_." Victoria looked worriedly at me as we both crouched down.

"Find Sarah!" She yelled over the approaching gunshots. "Find Sarah!"

The bullets came from an assault rifle, maybe a shotgun and a pistol or two. My guess was a raider party nearing the town. I jumped to my feet and sprinted around the house. "SARAH?!" I shouted as I looked over all possible hiding spots. I swung the front door open, almost breaking it down as the gunshots and yelling became more apparent to us. I ran down the squeaking steps and stopped for a moment at the bottom one. I then ducked down to my feet and checked under the stairs. There was Sarah, crouched and scared from my serious screaming. "Sarah, get inside." I instructed her.

"Daddy I-" We heard a gunshots outside. Sarah looked at me.

"Sarah, listen to me. Get _inside_."

"But daddy-"

"Sarah get in the goddamn house!" I screamed at her as the gunshots echoed in our ears.

"Okay, daddy."

Sarah walked inside. I ran to the sheriff's department. Joe was inside talking to a random girl.

"You know, I think you could be about an eight on the-"

"Joe, there's gunfire coming from outside." I said. Joe pushed the girl away from him harshly and ran to a closet. He opened it and tossed me my holster belt while he put on his.

"What am I an eight on?" The woman asked, brushing her clothes off from her tumble.

"Shut up about your number! There's danger, woman!" Joe shouted as he reloaded his assault rifle. "I'm also in a relationship. Kind of. We're taking a break, now."

We ran outside to the gates. There were five raiders standing towards us, holding weapons at us and our security forces.

"Now you must be eight different kinds of stupid coming to this town like that. What's your business here?" I asked.

"We didn't shoot because they said they had a message." A guard said.

"Well, get on with it then, what is it?" I asked.

"Your boys are right, we _do_ have a message." The raider held a grenade up to the air. Joe and I took out our weapons. I aimed my revolver at the raiders arm. I used my signal to Joe which meant that to focus on the other raiders when we fire. We used this commonly on raiders since Joe has an automatic rifle and I have a revolver. I shoot the main person, while Joe sprays bullets at the rest. I pulled the hammer back on my revolver and aimed at the arm to disarm the raider of the grenade.

"We've been watching you for a while now. Chain says to 'let it go'." The raider pulled the pin on the grenade as I shot his arm. Joe sprayed at the raiders and they all scrambled for cover. The grenade went flying behind them. After we finished shooting, we ducked behind cover and waited for the explosion. Dirt and fire flew up from the round as we covered our ears. We got up from the cover and looked at the raiders.

"What the hell was that all about?" I asked.

"I don't know, but that idea was pretty fuckin' stupid." Joe said as he dusted himself off of dirt and blood.

We walked over to the raiders. Four were dead, and one managed to hide from the bullets under his comrade. Joe picked him up with an evil smile on his face.

"Hey, buddy. How's it going? Good? Well, being a scared like a little girl is now going to cost you." Joe said to the raider.

"Nice hat, Walker Texas Asshole, where'd you find it, off the ground?" The raider retorted.

"You… son-of-a-bitch." Joe grunted as he pulled the man forward.

"Let's go, Jace." Joe told me.

We brought the raider to the jail. I let Joe interrogate the raider while I waited outside the room. Victoria then walked in with a worried look on her face.

"What happened? Sarah ran to me and she told me that you wanted her inside." Victoria said.

"It was raiders. We got rid of them, Joe's interrogating one now." I said. I heard faint yelling and cursing behind me, along with loud smacking.

"Where's Chain?!" Joe yelled at the man as he punched the raider in the face with a fist wrapped with a bloody cloth.

"I say nothing to you, faggot!"

"I—I… w-what'd you call me?" Joe asked him.

"I sai—" Joe punched him before he could finish.

"Oh I'm sorry, that was the part where I would let you talk… instead I punched you."

"The one with the jokes… Joey…" The raider looked at him.

"How do you know who I am?" Joe asked him as he shook his punching arm.

"We know everyone here in Megaton. Joey, Jace, Veronica… _Sarah_."

The last one made Joe's heart sink. He stared at him in silence for a moment.

"How do you know our names?" Joe asked him, running up and holding him by the neck. "Answer me!"

"Check the mailboxes tomorrow outside of town."

Joe let go of the raider and stared into his eyes.

"Wow, he's really getting into it." Vee said outside.

"The raider insulted him; I think he's just doing that because he's wants to, not because he wants answers." I shrugged. I heard muffled speaking and then more smacking behind me.

"Did he get anything so far?" She asked.

"I don't know, I'll ask. I knocked on the door behind me. I heard one more muffled sentence and then another smack. Joe walked out and grabbed a cloth and started to wipe the blood off his hands. Sweat drenched him and his shirt. His hands shook and he didn't know the reason. After we left he sat in his desk and thought to himself, breathing in and out.


	16. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15: Not a Time For Jokes**

We agreed to let Joe handle this one, since this was his department. Vee and I went home and ran through a few quick lessons on stranger danger with Sarah before eating dinner and going to bed. The next morning was the day we checked the perimeter of town, so Joe and I set off to make sure there weren't any more raiders tucked away in holes somewhere close.

"So how's Nat?" I asked him as we patrolled the outside of Megaton.

"High up on the sexy scale, Jace."

"You think you may have found something good?"

"Dunno, Jace." He shrugged.

I looked at him quizzically and bent down. I picked up a rock and threw it at his back as he turned away. "What was that for?" He was irritated.

"What's wrong with you, dude?" I asked him.

"Nothing. I'm in work mode, you know how it is." He explained as he went to an old mailbox and opened it up, looking inside.

"What's inside?" I asked him.

"Just an entire baseball bat, nothing much."

"Oh." I nodded.

Joe checked the next mailbox in the house nearby.

"What are you looking for?"

Joe shook his head. "I don't know. I'm bored." He said genuinely.

"Seriously dude, you're creeping me out with the normal small-talk shit."

"Jace, I don't know what you want; I'm just doing our job. Remember how we're law enforcement? Remember how we have people to protect?"

I pointed at him and caught him in the act. "There's that humane shit again. When did you become the rational guy?"

Joe sighed and turned around. "Things look clear, let's head back home."

"Alright, Joe." I bobbed my head up and down and walked with him back to the Megaton gates.

"I'll uh, meet you and Vee at the saloon; we'll get drinks tonight, okay?" Joe suggested as we walked through town.

"Sure. See you tonight."

Joe sighed and dug his hands into his pockets, pulling out a piece of mail that was put in there not but fifteen minutes ago using some sleight-of-hand in a mailbox. He walked into his office and closed the door behind him. He looked over to a raider handcuffed to his desk and looked at the mail, stepping over him as he sat in his chair.

"Afternoon, Giggles." Joe told the raider as he lay on the ground, glaring at Joe.

"You cock-shit! Release me!" Giggles shouted.

"For a man named 'Giggles', you're not that fun to be around."

Joe opened up the letter on his desk and unfolded it before him.

"Meet me in front of the Nuka Cola Machine outside the town tonight. Go alone.

Chain"

"Wow, he's got pretty handwriting." Joe nodded at the note as he folded it up and put it in his pockets.

"Are you hungry Giggles?" Joe asked the raider as he shook the desk leg angrily.

"ONLY FOR YOUR TAINTED HEART!"

"How's mac and cheese?"

"I WILL PLANT MY SEED IN YOUR FIRSTBORN, DEVIL!"

"Well someone's not eating tonight." Joe sighed as he got up and left his office.

"COME AND FACE ME, BABY CHEEKS!"

"Who the hell gave you the nickname 'Giggles'?" Joe asked himself as he looked over to the saloon and sighed. He turned his back to it and left the city.

The sun began to set, and Joe walked down the cracked and dirty streets with his assault rifle in his hands. He spotted the abandoned parking lot with a Nuka Cola machine out in front. As the sun kissed the horizon at the end of Joe's apparent vision, he waited. He waited patiently until he heard a muffled scream to his right. He pulled up his assault rifle and aimed it at a raider as he cupped his hands around the mouth of Natalie. Joe's eyes shot open as he aimed for the raider's head.

"Drop the gun, Joey." A grizzled voice said behind him as he felt a gun to his head.

Joe inhaled sharply and exhaled quickly as Natalie stared into his pained eyes. He reluctantly lowered his weapon and put it in the holster. He turned around to see a man with a stop sign attached to his armor.

"I'm surprised you actually came here." Joe told him in a low voice.

"I'm surprised your first words weren't a wise crack." He stared at him and crossed his arms.

"Now's not a time for jokes, I think." Joe glared at him, and then glanced over to Nat and sighed, calming his face to have a normal conversation.

"Let her go, she won't scream. Even if she does, no one in town will hear her. We're too far out." Joe told them.

The raider looked over to Chain, and the leader nodded. Natalie broke free from his grasp and fell to her knees, gasping and choking on her hands and knees. She looked up at Joe and sobbed in fear. Joe looked down at her calmly, almost ignoring her. The raider held a gun at Joe to keep him in place.

"So what do you want?" Joe asked the leader.

"Take a pick of my three newest buddies." Chain responded as he crossed his arms, exposing a miniature chainsaw holstered on his bicep. "I've been doing my scouting, as you can tell. Figured out why exactly you and your friends hate me so much—"

"You couldn't figure it out yourself?" Joe interrupted.

"I never said I was smart, Joey. Just clever."

Chain ripped Natalie from the ground by her hair and held her face up to Joe's eyes.

"Joe!" Natalie yelled in pain. Joe looked back at her dolefully.

"You like what I did here? Turns out I'm not some junkie raider after all, huh?"

"Congrats, you're a regular villain. Why are we even still talking? I'm here; you've got the upper hand, just shoot me and get it over with already." Joe said in irritation.

"There's a reason why I picked you for this, Joe. Your two friends have some fire in them, that's clear. But not you, you're different. You don't seem to care at all whether I'm alive or not. You don't seem to take anything seriously, not even this." Chain pulled out his chainsaw and held the jagged and bloody chain against Natalie's neck. Natalie yelped and whined as she struggled to get free. Joe looked at Natalie, and then up at Chain. He crossed his arms.

"Nothing? Really?" Chain asked him in disappointment.

"There's not much I can do to change what you're going to do here. So do what you're gonna do."

"Wow… and I thought _you_ were the dumb one of the three." Chain nodded.

"I never said I was dumb. Just not as clever as you." Joe crossed his arms and waited semi-patiently.

"Since I can't get a rise out of you, I'll just let you know my demands. You bring your friends out here for us, and I'll maybe think about letting you and your girl here go free… at least for a little bit."

Chain bent down to Natalie and breathed heavily on her neck. Joe didn't flinch. "Joe… please… do something! PLEASE!" Natalie begged. Joe cleared his throat and continued to cross his arms with an unimpressed facial expression.

"It was worth a shot." Chain said as he dropped Natalie to the floor.

Chain walked up to Joe and he towered over the sheriff. "I heard Sarah's turning four next month."

Joe's eyes changed expression as he breathed in his horrible breath from their five inch tension.

"You don't care about a bitch. That's fair. But I hope you'll play ball when that little girl's on the line, Doughy-Joey."

Joe breathed heavily in through his nose and picked his next words carefully. "You've made your point."

"Remember what I said, I've got spies, Joey. Let anyone know what's going on here and… well… you're apparently smart enough to figure it out." Chain warned as he and his raider lackey walked away.

"Bring them here, same time tomorrow. Please don't make me hurt a little girl to make a point. I've got a heart, just like you." Chain called as Natalie got up and ran to Joe and hugged him. Joe didn't move a muscle as she hugged him. He stood still, his eyes fixated on Chain. Natalie whimpered as Joe stared at him with his arms at his sides until he was out of his vision.

Meanwhile, Victoria and I arrived at the bar. We sat on the counter until the sun set, and looked at each other. "He stood us up." I shook my head at her.

"That's what we get for not being cool, I guess." Vee sighed.

"Jab!" I yelled.

"Get us two gin and tonics!"

"Why is everyone doing this to me, now?! I just want respect!" Jab sobbed as he poured us drinks.

"Let's just take these to go." I shrugged as Vee nodded. We took the drinks and left the bar as Jab wiped tears from his face.

"Nobody likes me!" Jab whined.

"Ah, you're getting' tears in me booze! Sell! Not cry! Or I'll get your brother to replace you!" Colin yelled as he snatched the drink from Jab.

Vee and I held hands as we walked with our drinks through the town, waiting for the numbing night that awaited us without the constant peppering of jokes from Joe. We walked through the streets past people until Joe bumped into me. I spilled my drink on him, but he didn't notice. He didn't even notice that he had bumped into anyone. He just kept his eyes straight ahead and walked forward. Vee and I exchanged looks and jogged up to Joe, turning him around.

"Joe! What's up?" I asked him.

"Huh? Oh, hey guys. I'm sorry I couldn't get drinks with you tonight, I'm just really tired." Joe sighed in the most wide awake voice I've ever heard.

"Alright, maybe tomorrow, buddy." Vee smiled as she playfully elbowed him.

Joe pulled out a smile and turned away from us, and we turned away from him. He walked a few feet until he turned around.

"Hey, guys!" He called to us with hesitation.

"Huh?"

"Can you guys do me a favor… tomorrow?"

"Uh… yeah. What do you need from us?"

Joe took us into his office and let us know his errand for us. We were to deliver a "private letter" to one of Joe's "old friends" who lives in a house near Springvale, a few minutes away from town. After a firing squad's worth of questions, we agreed and went to bed for the night. Joe stayed in his office with his hat off and his bandana resting lightly on his brown hair. He sighed and looked down at Giggles as he slept next to his desk. He then sighed again, even louder as he felt the letter and thought to himself.

He spent the entire night wide awake; his thumbs running across the letter Chain gave him, thinking of Natalie's beautiful face, the way she smiled when they first met. Because that's all he saw; a beautiful face: not the tears running down it when Chain threatened her or the fear of her life, Joe never saw any of that, not even in his reflection. But now, he was forced to, and it killed him inside. What he was about to do would haunt his life. He was going to do something that would make him awake in a cold sweat years later. He was about to make a serious decision, and it scared him.


	17. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16: Buddy**

"You mind telling me what this letter's about?" I asked Joe the next morning as we walked through the streets.

"Ex-girlfriend. She's been making death threats and I'm ending it. Please don't read it, Jace. It's personal." Joe said in a tired voice.

"No worries, Joe. You can count on us, buddy."

Joe coughed; his heart dropped hearing the word. "Thanks."

"What's the matter with you lately? Don't tell me this girl's getting to you."

"No, it's not that—"

"Oh, man! This girl's totally got you by your heart strings!" I laughed as I flapped the letter around.

"Aw Joey!" I teased, using another trigger word for Joe.

"_Shut up_, Jace." Joe sighed as I looked at him, noticing the gray bags under his eyes.

"Sorry, Joe." I said honestly.

"It's… fine, Jace." Joe said painfully.

"Don't worry, bud. You'll feel better when we give her this message."

"Yeah."

Joe walked away without saying goodbye. He walked faster than usual and without his smug swagger as he usually did. He walked like a skinny, timid boy, and that wasn't Joe. I figured something was going on. So I asked Vee about it. I walked back home and saw Sarah napping on the couch as Vee sat at home and played with an old yellow cloth with questionable red stains on it.

"Hey." I whispered with a smile as she got up and smiled back. She walked up and we hugged.

"So you talked to Joe today?" She asked.

"Yeah. He didn't really seem to know about Chain. He wants us to focus more on the town right now."

"And that's why we're playing pony express?"

"Guess so." I shrugged. "Sounds a lot sexier now that you said it."

"Shut up." Vee sighed as she sat down.

"What's up?" I asked as I sat down next to her.

"Nothing. We're getting a convoy up to trade for Springvale's medical equipment."

"Don't change the subject. I like to think I know you enough to know when something's up. What is going on with everyone lately?"

"Do you… ever feel… bored?"

"Uh… yeah? That kind of happens a lot, Vee. We're in the middle of friggen' nowhere. I stared at brahmin shit for five minutes the other day because it looked familiar to me."

"Language." Vee hushed me as she glanced over to Sarah. "And I know. I just want to know… are you happy with that?"

"I am if you are."

"I am. I am." She smiled the second time.

"You're ready to travel right? Have you been stretching?" I asked her as I got up.

"Yeah. Don't worry. I haven't lost my touch."

"That was a pun, right? Because you punch things?" She looked at me with not response. "I'm sorry, I totally understand why you're bored here." I added.

"I'm not bored." Vee argued.

"Sorry. I get it, not bored. My bad."

"Just go and get Walter so he can babysit Sarah." Vee sighed.

"Why not Joe?"

"Joe's… Joe's not in a good place right now. Let's not trouble him more."

I looked at her and squinted. "Hold on, do you not trust him with Sarah?"

"I didn't say that."

"Then why not get him? He's our friend, Vee. He's our _best friend_."

"I just don't want him around Sarah now!" Vee argued.

"What has gotten into you guys recently? Everything's going great, and you guys are just giving up because it's monotonous?! After all we worked for we're just going to turn on each other?"

"I didn't mean it like that! I'm sorry that I want something different for my life!"

"So you admit it, you _are_ bored!"

"Yes! Fine! I'm bored and I think that Joe's been acting sketchy lately, so I don't want him around our daughter! Is that okay?! Is that good enough for you? Can I _please_ protect our daughter, Jace?!"

I looked at her and shook my head. "Protect her… from Joe."

"Jace, you haven't known Joe as long as I have. Listen to me: he—hasn't—grown—up. He's a kid inside so he shouldn't be in charge of ours!"

"Joe's taken care of us before, Victoria! How could you say that about him?!"

"No he hasn't, Jace! He hasn't nursed us, he just dropped us off so he can go to the bar and get drunk! I don't want that around our—"

We looked to our side and saw Sarah standing there, her face groggy and misunderstood.

Vee crouched down to her and looked down, switching to "Mom mode". I sighed and looked to the door.

"I'll go get Walter." I decided as I left.

"Why are you screaming?" Sarah asked her mother.

"We were just... Uh… rehearsing for a…"

"Do you hate Uncle Joe?"

"Kind of forgot you're my daughter." She mumbled, impressed by her wit. "I don't hate him, Sarah. Joe's a great friend. But he's just that. He doesn't have it inside him to do what your father and I do, and that's protect you."

Joe sat by himself in his office with no light on, using the sunlight seeping through the walls to reload a bolt-action rifle. He cleaned it, his hands shaking in fear, but his face seeming to be disconnected from his hand, at least in an emotional way. His eyes were calm and his mouth shut, his nose doing the breathing; the hard, quick breathing.

"I just want you to know that your father and I love you very much, Sarah. But we have to go now, okay? Just for a little bit."

Joe sighed quickly as he got up and walked out of his office, to the meeting point.

Victoria kissed her daughter on the head and smiled. "I love you."

"I love you too, mommy." Sarah smiled, showing her baby teeth.

I came back to say my goodbyes and left to deliver the letter with Victoria as Walter sat with our daughter to read her a story. Joe walked out of Megaton, his hands flicking invisible things away at his sides as he walked. He had a lit cigarette in his mouth. It barely stuck to his lips as he breathed through his mouth now. He made no eye contact with anyone and walked out. Vee and I silently walked to make the delivery, making small talk about the letter. We finally arrived, and looked at the houses, checking to see if any girl lived in them when the irony was that those houses have been abandoned for years. Joe waited impatiently further away from us, smoking the cigarette and tapping his foot. Chain and his men walked quickly through the Wasteland to their destination: a couple of fools to be given to the slave trade. They raced to their goal, and made it obvious that they were coming.

"What was that?" Vee asked me as she heard a noise.

I pulled out my pistol as she pumped her gauntlet.

Joe breathed out hard and choked up, his eyes red as he smoked his cigarette. He brushed ash off his duster, his Megaton sheriff's badge shining in the sun.

"I hear something." She told me.

"Get down." I told her.

Chain's men rushed to the rendezvous place, and surrounded their prey. They had no idea what was going to happen next.

I saw the threat and sighed. "It was just a mole rat." I told her as we looked at the small, whiskered rodent as it scurried around. We were then left in silence.

Chain and his men surrounded Joe miles away from us at the actual rendezvous point.

"Well… well." Chain sighed as he looked at the lone sheriff.

"I thought you were the smart one, Joey." Chain shook his head at him.

Joe stopped daydreaming and looked up at Chain. "I'm not smart. I'm not as clever as you are. I'm just a man, and I've got you beat there." Joe said weakly as he dropped the cigarette on the ground.

"You know what this means, right?" Chain asked him.

"Someone's gonna die in the end. I know." Joe told him quietly.

"You're damn right."

"And I hope to God they get you first."

Joe pulled out his bolt action rifle and fired at Chain, sparking the bullet off his armor. A raider popped a bullet into Joe's side, and sent him into the ground. The raider's converged on Joe as he bled onto the ground. Chain looked at the sheriff with pity.

"You think you did something good, Joey. You're wrong. You started a war you won't be around to finish."

Joe looked up at him and breathed heavily until he passed out.

"These houses are barricaded, Jace. No one's been in these for ages." Vee told me.

"This is the place, Victoria."

"This is where _Joe_ told us to go." She looked at me.

"There it is again. Joe knows this place more than you. If he says this is the place, then this is the place." I decided. We gave up hours later.

Joe awoke in the dark, a fire lighting the cave he was in. Just barely.

A voice spoke to him. "Wakey, wakey. Eggs and—" A punch entered Joe's left cheek.

Joe looked up at Chain as he waved to him.

"Good morning, sleepy-head." Chain smiled.

"You want to interrogate me?" Joe asked weakly.

"More like fill you in on your current situation."

"So, first off. You fucked up pretty big if you haven't realized the gaping hole that was put in you." Chain pointed to a red spot on Joe's stomach. That was when he noticed he was tied up. He couldn't feel his arms or legs.

"You're friends returned from that little 'errand' you sent them on. Too bad they weren't there to see their daughter get sick with a little 'virus' that'll get her killed soon."

"This is the part where you tell me… what the virus is." Joe rasped out.

"I gave her a special little concoction that's gonna speed up her heart rate from all the little hops and jumps she does until it explodes. It'll be slow and painful. Kind of like watching you perform in life. You may have saved your friends, but they'll wish they were dead when their little baby falls is."

"They know I'm missing. They'll find out what happened."

"I don't think so, Joey. See, they're more focused on something more important than you; anything. I'm not even sure why you risked your life for them when they're not even trying to free you! I mean, they think their sick kid is more important than your life!" Chain smiled.

Joe looked back at him in silence.

"Don't worry. I know how it feels to have no one care about you. Treat it as a good thing! You can get a lot done when no one cares if you succeed!"

"I hate… how that… was relatable." Joe coughed, his face was pale.

"See! Maybe we can be pals until that bullet wound kills you!" Chain nodded. "I know what you're waiting for. You're friends aren't going to come for you. They won't survive. Not even with those dipshits you call 'security forces'. One guy isn't worth an all-out war. They know _that_ much."

"Well, have fun! Die quickly!" Chain smiled as he opened a metal door and slammed it shut, leaving Joe in a small room with a fire next to him.

"Why do bad guys… always give you a chance to escape…" Joe rasped out to himself as he struggled on his binds. He swung his arms up and around and wince in pain as he leaned on his gut wound. He breathed through his nose angrily and wiggled, falling over to his side, landing on his injury. He muffled a scream and groaned on the ground, his face almost kissing he campfire providing his light. He inched closer to it, and lifted his arms up and held them over the flame. It pained him, so he arched himself up to protect his skin from the flame. He waited, cooking the rope that tied him up. His arms began to tire and succumb to fatigue. They dropped slowly, grazing the fire. Joe yelped and rolled away from it from sheer pain. He ventilated and crawled away from the flames. He no longer wanted to try that route. He couldn't take it. He felt the cooked rope and felt a small tear in them. He wiggled the rope for minutes, slowly removing the rope's strings one by one as sweat poured down his white face. He wheezed out and grit his teeth weakly as he held onto his goal. He tore the rope off his hands and fell onto his back, breathing quickly with a smile.

"So cliché." He told himself as he pulled himself up.

I opened the door to the sheriff's office in Megaton and looked around for Joe.

"Joe?" I called into the empty room. I heard muttering, so I walked slowly towards the center of the room. I looked down at a starving raider as he breathed heavily on the ground, handcuffed to a desk.

"Mac and cheese… please… jeez…Louise…"

I raised an eyebrow at the raider as I looked around.

"Where is he?" I asked him.

"Food. Water." He forced out.

I looked at him and grabbed a water bottle off Joe's desk and dumped it on his mouth. His mouth graciously accepted it until he coughed and choked on the water, waking himself up from his dehydrated sleep.

"You gonna tell me where Joe is, shit-nose?" I asked him.

"Baby cheeks is gone. You won't find him."

"I forgot I'm talking to a drugged-up psycho." I told him as I sat in Joe's desk.

I investigated his latest work. Forms and treaties with other towns, signed by him and Vee. Atop the papers and dossier info was an empty envelope. I picked it up; it was yellowed with age and had nothing inside of it. I knew it was recently used, however, since it was freshly torn, exposing white fibers underneath the dust that settled on top of it. It wasn't of any use to me. I placed it back down on his desk and stood up from his seat. I slipped on the floor and caught myself on the desk, making Giggles mutter to himself. I looked down at my feet and saw loosely placed .308 rounds. I knew for a fact that Joe doesn't shoot .308 rounds. He used an assault rifle for his sheriff duties, for crowd control. No, these bullets were large and powerful. Whatever he was doing, he wanted to make sure they were dead. But even loose bullets couldn't bring me to Joe. I looked back down at Giggles.

"Last chance, pal. Let me know where the sheriff went."

"There never were enough batteries for that light…" He muttered, breaking out into a hoarse laugh.

"Cool. Good talk." I nodded as I exited the office.

I walked to the front gates and looked up at the sniper guard. "Hey, yo!" I shouted to him.

"Have you seen the sheriff?" I asked him.

"Not since yesterday. He left sometime around three. Hasn't come back yet." The sniper called down to me.

"Thanks." I called back up to him, turning away and sighing.

I walked back home to Vee and Sarah and closed the door behind me.

"Hi, daddy." Sarah told me after Vee gave her a gentle push.

"Hi, cutie. What? No hug?" I asked with a smile.

She hid behind her mother's leg in shyness. I looked up at Vee, and then there were no smiles.

"Joe's missing." I explained to her.

"Maybe he's playing hide-and-seek." Sarah put forth.

"Good thought, Sarah, but Joe doesn't do that anymore." I said gently.

"Yes he does! Mommy said he's a kid like me. And I play hide-and-seek!"

I looked at Vee with passive anger and decided not to argue.

"He left town the same time as us yesterday and hasn't come back." I explained.

"Did you check his office?"

I nodded at her.

"You still have that letter he gave to us?" I asked.

"Yes. It's upstairs."

"I'll get it!" Sarah smiled as she trotted up the stairs, slowing down and falling halfway up the stairs. Vee rushed over to her and lifted her up. She smiled.

"Wow, someone looks a little out of breath. Let's go take a nap, okay, honey?" Vee asked her daughter as she lifted her up. Sarah nodded as she breathed heavily out of her mouth. Victoria took her upstairs and I followed them until I turned into our bedroom. I grabbed the letter and opened it up.

"I'm sorry I didn't have it in me. I tried.

-Joe"

I didn't know what he meant, but right now, things weren't looking good for Joe. I put the letter away and walked quickly down stairs where Victoria was sitting at the table.

"Vee, I think there's somethi—"

I stopped talking when I noticed she wasn't looking at me. She held a glass of wine in her hand. Her power fist was on the table. Her face was somber, but her body looked tense. I dropped my hands to my sides and my heart sank.

"What's wrong?" I asked her, playing dumb.

"Things just aren't the way I pictured them." She said, looking at the ground as she took a sip of wine.

"They never are, Vee."

"I know they can be different though. You and I don't have to live like this. Whatever it is we're doing."

I sat down at the table next to her and grabbed her wrists gently, looking up at her.

"We're doing what's right. What we wanted."

"This isn't what I wanted, Jace." She told me, her eyes were red. "I can't play mayor for the rest of my life. I don't feel like I'm doing anything with myself. And then I just come home here and I see you and you look the same way; empty. We can't suck it up because we think it's the right thing to do, that's not how we should live."

"We have a daughter, Vee." I choked up.

"And we've proven to each other that we can raise her. I'm not saying we should stop. I'm just saying we should just stop doing it together."

My heart sank.

"I can't believe this." I said in a whisper as I sat back in my chair and breathed in painfully.

"We deserve more, Jace." She said to me with no emotion.

"What the hell have we done to deserve more?!" I yelled as I got up. Vee looked back down at the ground in melancholy.

"Don't be like this."

"Don't be like what?! _Human_?! That's what we are! We can't strive to do more until we—we kill ourselves! We've done so much and now you want _more _from this?! What the fuck is the matter with your brain?!" I shouted as I threw my chair to the side.

"I just can't do this…"

"Oh! You 'just can't do this'?! Where the hell was that when you got hurt, huh?! Where the hell was that when we were in the vault and I had to bury my father?! WHERE WAS THIS WHEN WE HAD SARAH?!"

"It's not about you." She sobbed woefully as she glanced up at me for a second.

"I forgot, Victoria! It's about _both _of us! It's about how I tried so hard to make this work, and you don't even respond! It's about how we've bled for this town and you just want to leave because you don't feel like a kid anymore! Grow up! Grow the FUCK UP! You're not any different than Joe!"

I turned away from her and opened the front door, slamming it shut behind me. I stormed off until I noticed a crying woman standing in front of our house, looking at me. It was Natalie.

"I'm… I'm sorry…" She sobbed at me. I looked at her in questioning anger.

"He… he…" She tried to make more words, but broke down.

"Natalie…" I exhaled.

"You _need_ to tell me where Joe is."

Joe crawled up to his feet in pain, forcing himself quickly to his feet. He lost his balance halfway through and ran forward into the metal door, falling down and groaning loudly. He held his wound as it seeped red. Joe wiped sweat from his forehead and pushed his red bandana off his head. He grabbed it loosely in his hand and applied it to the wound as he winced. He slowly dragged himself to his feet, and opened the rusted cell door. He crept as much as a dying man could through the dimly lit raider camp. He noticed these small cells where everywhere, with people being tortured and dying just like him. He tried to control his heavy breathing as he got to look around his surroundings. He limped as he held his right hand to his wound, using his free left hand to keep him from falling down to the ground. He leaned on the cell walls with everyone inside. He walked slower and slower as voices became easier and louder to hear. He got as down as much as he could bring himself until he saw the raiders. Dozens of them holed up in this cave with their intricate makeshift armors and weapons. Talking, drinking and eating were they as slaves died off around them. Joe breathed quickly as the blood left his face and exited onto his bandana below him. He looked down at the ground and exhaled in duress. There wasn't much he could do. There wasn't any way he was leaving alive.

Never before has reality slapped anyone. Once cocky and full of laughter, Joe was at the other extreme. He slumped against a dark corner and shook his head. There wasn't a plan or a friend there for him. He was alone, outnumbered, outmatched and on his deathbed. The only thing he had in him was heart: A stupid thing that got him into this mess to begin with. The thing that made him decide a child's life over her parents. A strong thing that would help him climb to his feet and realize there was only one end goal for him, and that was to save that little girl; because that little girl was the only thing that he ever cared about. She was the future of him and his friends who abandoned him here to die. The girl was the only thing left that symbolized hope, and he was responsible for killing her. There wasn't anything stopping him for righting that wrong, not death, not life as a slave, not even the death of her parents. Sarah's the only thing that mattered to him, she was the only reason he put his bandana away and limped to the center of the raiders, and pointed directly at the leader. She's the reason why he challenged the infamous bandit. And she's the reason why he was going to make sure that man died there.

Chain lifted up his pole weapon with the dumbbell at the end and swung it at Joe as Joe sprinted at him, screaming out a battle cry as the raiders around them cheered. He tackled Chain to the ground as the weapon swung above him. Joe ripped his helmet off of him and exposed black hair with gray streaks throughout and punched down as hard as his body could allow. No hesitation, no smart-ass remark, just rage and a fight to the death. And that's exactly what was going to happen between them.

"Natalie… _where is he_?" I asked her inside our house. She looked at Vee as she sat in her chair, her hair matted and a glass of wine next to her. Bags were under her eyes. Natalie knew she was crying.

"Am I interrupting something?" Nat asked us.

"Please just answer the question."

"That raider made him give you guys up. He was going to kill me and your daughter if he didn't. That's why he asked you to deliver that letter yesterday, right?" Natalie asked.

"There wasn't anyone there. He sent us halfway to Springvale for nothing."

"The meeting spot wasn't in Springvale…" Natalie seemed confused.

We thought for a moment, and figured out what Joe's 'plan' was.

"Did he… give himself up?" Vee asked us, looking up worriedly at me.

"He showed up without you guys…" Natalie decided.

"Where's the meeting point?" I asked her quickly.

"Near that Nuka-Cola machine north of here."

"Take this." I told her as I grave her my revolver. "Protect our daughter."

"Jace…" Vee eased me.

"We have to go now, he could be hurt!" I argued.

Victoria looked at me.

"He's our friend, Victoria." She looked into my eyes and then looked down. She inhaled and jumped up, grabbing her power fist and pumping it.

"If anyone comes into this house other than us, you shoot first and ask questions later. Got it?" Vee asked her as she gathered up her bag of supplies atop the fridge.

"Okay. Please hurry." Natalie told us as we ran from the house.

Joe punched down at Chain's face until the muscular man grabbed his attacker's arm and threw him off his body. Joe fell back, knocking himself into a table as Chain swung a forceful hook at Joe, sending his neck to the side and knocking him down to the ground. Chain front kicked the man like a wounded animal and set him up against the wooden table where loose food was spread. The raider's cheered as Chain bashed Joe's jaw against the table once, twice, and splitting the wood the third time. Joe grabbed onto Chain's wrists, but he much stronger and durable than him. Chain lifted the smaller man up and threw him into the ground a few feet away. Joe coughed on the ground, his jaw was cracked, his face was swelling. He breathed quickly, wheezing on the ground as Chain walked over to him. Joe held his face in pain and crawled away from Chain as he and the raiders laughed. Joe spotted Chain's weapon that he left on the ground a few feet away from him. He crawled towards it, his fingertips grazing it as Chain grabbed him by his duster and pulled him back away from it the way an owner held back a rabid dog on a collar. Chain grabbed Joe from his knees and put him in a headlock, choking him. Joe's face turned red as his windpipe was cut off from oxygen. Joe tried to wretch himself free as he scratched at the man's arms. Chain bit down hard as Joe breathed out airless coughs. His pale white face turned red and then purple, and then white again. Joe felt up Chain's arm weakly, stopping at his mini chainsaw attached to his armor. Joe pulled the Ripper from his armor and turned it on, buzzing the jagged chains up and sending it back into Chain's arm, tearing away at flesh. Chain released Joe from his chokehold and screamed out a booming, grizzled yell as Joe took in air. He quickly got back to his feet and swung the Ripper down at Chain's head. Chain stood up with a flying uppercut and took Joe by surprise. Joe flew up and back onto the ground, landing harshly on his lungs and kicking up dust. His Ripper was off to the side as Chain picked it up and breathed in.

Chain shouted out a battle cry as he brought the chainsaw down at Joe's chest. Joe's fingers grasped Chain's makeshift blunt weapon and swung it around at the Ripper as it came towards him. It smacked against Chain's wrist bone with a metallic crack, sending the Ripper flying away and breaking Chain's wrist on impact. Chain screamed out as Joe got to his feet and swung the dumbbell at his face and took him to the ground. Joe lifted the hammer up into the air with both and hands and brought it down at Chain's head with all his force. Joe was tackled to the ground before he could complete his final blow. He was taken down by a loyal raider; a man with a red cross on his hat. Joe elbowed the man off him and kicked him away, noticing his medicine bag on him along with several different and poisonous chemical mixtures. Joe grabbed the bag off the man and swung it onto his own, holding the hammer in one hand as he bent down and grabbed the Ripper in the other. The raiders then converged on Joe as his lungs breathed out their final breaths of air, desperately trying to keep the man from falling down and dying. He had one image in his mind, and that was home. Home to a few close friends and a little girl. Joe inhaled and bellowed as he swung both weapons at the horde.

Vee and I approached the meeting spot with the security forces following us. I ordered them to search the area. We then fanned out and looked for any clues as to where Joe went. We found an empty .308 casing, a cigarette, and a blood stain that was smeared away from the area. We looked to where it led and ran towards the destination.

Joe swung the hammer at a raider as he brought a knife down to Joe. Joe's attack cracked against the raider's head and instantaneously broke his neck. Joe was grabbed from behind and tore the Ripper into the flesh of his grappler, making him scream in pain until he tore up something vital and killed him. Joe screamed as he walked forward and swung the hammer down at a raider and slashed the Ripper across their neck. Blood popped out a few feet into the air and rested on Joe's duster as he ran forward and pushed a raider weakly away from him as bullets were fired at him. They hit the raider as Joe brought the two attacks closer together. Realizing he accidentally shot a friend, the raider couldn't notice that Joe jabbed the Ripper into his stomach until they both stopped screaming. As bullets echoed in the cave, Joe limped away from the battle, fighting off the raiders until he could see the light of day. Joe slashed the Ripper forward as a raider fired a pistol at him. I pierced through Joe's hand and made him shout and drop the chainsaw. He dropped his hurt hand to the side as he backed to the exit. He swung the hammer at the raider's arm and smacked the gun away from him. Joe spun around and added force to his hammer blow, cracking the skull and cutting the raider's brain as he sent the dumbbell crashing into him. Joe felt sunlight on his cold body and turned away from the raiders. He ran as fast as he could, which wasn't as fast as you may think. He heard a familiar voice screaming as a tall, muscular, lumbering man with blood on him held up another raider's pistol and fired at Joe as he spotted Vee and I with the troops. The first round hit him in the shoulder, the next in his upper arm, and the next right through his duster and into the side of his chest. His eyes popped as he felt the bullets, and he dropped to the ground in front of us as Vee and I looked at Joe. As he fell to the ground, he exposed us to his shooter. He and I looked at each other as he held the smoking pistol. In almost slow-motion, I remembered everything about that man; our history and beyond. I almost didn't realize his next shot was fired directly at me. Vee pulled me away and saved my life as the bullet whizzed past me.

The security forced opened fire on the raiders, popping off various shots at them as I was held down in a firefight. Joe was motionless on the ground, bleeding into a small puddle around him. I looked at Joe, then at Chain as the bullets popped off his extravagant armor. He fired his pistol at us, taking down a few security forces as he smiled ostentatiously in his success. When his raiders began to lessen around him, they began to retreat. That was when Joe breathed in and spotted Chain. He wheezed out some blood from his white, dead face and lifted up his arm at him, trying the catch the elusive man as he ran away. Vee and I ran over to him as the field medic turned Joe onto to his back.

We looked at our friend as he lay on his back, his eyes glassy and his body ice cold. He breathed heavily, popping up his chest over and over again ever so often as the medic checked him.

"Oh my God…" Victoria sobbed as she looked at him. Joe twitched on the ground, trying his hardest to scream his head off from the pain he was experiencing. He only lay there, looking up at the sky as the holes in him bled onto his best friends' hands. He wanted to say he did this for them, but he couldn't bring out any words, or move at all.

We were looking at a dead man, and we knew it. Vee held Joe's hair back and cried onto him as the field medic set up a transfusion.

"He's lost alotta blood." The medic said to us over the ending firefight.

"I'm O-, use me." Vee told him as he hooked her up to him.

Joe's arms twitched towards the man lying next to him. The medic cut off his duster and set it along with his badge to the side. Red holes sucked all the life out of his body and they were all over him. Victoria's blood was sent into Joe as his eyes looked towards the medical bag. He wasn't smiling. Somehow I thought he would. His face was dead of any expression.

"S—S" Joe said weakly, his eyes to useless to him to point out anything for us.

"What is it, Joe?" Vee sobbed at him as he coughed loudly and choked on the ground, gasping for air.

"Si…Sick…" His fingers twitched as they rested upon the antidote to Sarah.

He had a few moments to explain what happened to Sarah and how to fix it, but he was losing time.

"Sick? You're sick?" I asked him.

"S…Sa…Sar…"

"Sarah's sick?" I asked him.

"Huh." Joe tried to nod his head, but he winced in pain and looked up at the sky.

I opened up the bag and poured out bottles of weird concoctions, one of them being the antidote to Sarah.

"Hea…Sar…sic…"

Joe inhaled deeply and choked loudly on the ground as the medic tended to his wounds. Joe's eyes flickered and his body fell still.

"Joe?" I asked him as Vee shook her head.

The medic checked his pulse and began CPR.

"Oh God… Oh God, please…" Victoria shook her head as Joe's cold, pallid body pulsed between compressions. Tears streamed down her face like waterfalls.

With the AED charged up, the medic applied it to Joe's chest and administered shock. Joe's body pulsed and he awoke again, coughing, as if nothing happened, like the last two minutes of heart failure didn't even happen to him. He turned his head to us.

"Li… listen to me." Joe said as he breathed in.

"You… need… to take care of her." Joe pleaded.

"Make sure… she doesn't end up like us…"

We looked down at him and then at each other.

"She's the greatest thing you two created… don't let him do this to her…" Joe said in almost a whisper.

"She… needs… you guys…" Joe explained in incapacitation, choosing the one thing to be serious about in his life.

"Just don't talk, Joe. You're gonna be okay, buddy." I told him as I choked up.

"I tried… to do what you would do…"

"You did more than that, Joe. I can't thank you enough for this. You saved our daughter." I told him as Vee held his forehead and eased him.

"I'm glad… I didn't…" Joe breathed in and hard. He winced and shouted out in pain as a bullet was pulled out of him. He tried his sentence again.

"I'm glad… I didn't shoot you in the ass." Joe tried to smile at me. And I tried not to look sad as I smiled heartedly back.

"I'm glad you married her…" He continued.

"Come here…" Joe told me as he called me over. I bent down as he whispered in my ear.

"She… may not look like it… but she likes you."

I didn't have to heart to tell him he was wrong.

Vee heard his loud and clogged whisper. She wiped a tear from her eye and looked over to the firefight as dead security forces and raiders blanketed the ground. The raiders were pushed back; little did we know that Chain was still alive and running faster than anyone else away.


	18. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17: With What's Happened**

We took him back to Megaton to heal as the doctors checked Sarah and made sure her heart was rested as we gave her the medicine. Her BPM calmed down eventually and she was okay the next few days. We decided it wasn't worth it to chase Chain. When everything calmed down, I decided we would. That wasn't the only thing we would hold off for now. Victoria decided after hearing Joe's deathbed speech that she was to stay and take care of Sarah, at least until we were done raising her. "Things are gonna be hard." She told me. "But I'm going to do my best to do what's right for her."

This wasn't a victory, not by a long shot. By the next week, everything that happened at the cave was known in town. Chain's name was big again, and he was feared. My daughter almost died along with my best friend. My town is scared and so was I. I couldn't live like that. I couldn't listen to what Joe said on his deathbed and ignore it. Chain wasn't going to force my child to live in fear any more. I wasn't a 16 year old boy anymore. I was an adult, and I had to make adult choices, just like Joe had to, just like we all will have to do again later on.

I was going to have to kill that raider. There wasn't any going around it. I visited my friend in the hospital every day as he lay on a bed, unconscious with needles sticking into him. Joe hated needles. Victoria couldn't face Joe after what she said about him. I left her alone until one morning; Joe awoke from his drug induced coma. It took him a day to get his senses back. That was when I visited him.

"Hey, Joe." I smiled warmly at him as his eyes glazed over me.

He punched my arm.

"I'm sorry. I thought I saw an ugly monster. Must've been the drugs they've given me. Y'know, because I've been shot. A lot."

He punched me again. "The drugs wore off, you're totally a real-life ugly monster."

I shrugged "Three out of five joke, Joe."

"Give me a break; I haven't been conscious for, like, five years."

"Sure, five years."

Joe lifted himself up.

"Can you stand?" I asked him.

"I can try. And maybe then we can go for a jog with all the stitches and IV's plugged into me. It'll be really romantic." He said sarcastically as he stood up.

"Listen…" I said in a serious tone.

"Don't." Joe swatted away the serious conversation.

"No. You did something that Vee and I couldn't ever find the courage to do. I'm not sure I would even have the balls to do what you did."

"I haven't seen her yet…" Joe told me. I looked at the floor, and then up at him to explain everything.

"Listen, she and I have been…"

"What is it?" Joe asked me as I tried to gather the courage to tell him about our marital problems.

The door opened behind us. We looked back to see Victoria standing there, looking at us. She looked at Joe with a warm smile and tears fell from her eyes. She ran up to her friend and hugged him as hard as she could.

"Thank you, Joe." She said through her tears.

"You would've have done the same for me, Vee." He told her as he hugged her back.

"No…" She said to him. "I wouldn't have." She told him. "You saved her life. What you did for us…" Vee sniffled. "I'm sorry I doubted you."

"You doubted me? _Now_ I'm offended."

"Alright…" Joe sniffled as the big guy choked up himself.

"You guys and Sarah mean a lot to me. I look up to you guys and I just… I just didn't know what to do."

"You outsmarted him, Joe." I told him.

"I didn't realize I did until he shot me."

"Well despite what everyone is saying, I'm calling that a victory, Joe. I'm glad you're okay, buddy."

"I'm glad you guys are too." Joe nodded.

Vee turned and looked at me and smiled lightly. We left Joe to rest.

A month passed after the "Battle of The Gun Shack", or what was better known as the cave where the raiders crafted their weapons and armor. Joe was mobile again, but not fit to be sheriff anymore. I took control of that department.

"How's my hat fit?" Joe asked me as I walked into his hospital room one morning.

"You've got a big head." I told him.

"Good thing that didn't get shot at." Joe said strongly, taking a deep breath afterward as he picked himself up. I helped carry him to his feet so he could lean on crutches.

"I bet your laughing everyday knowing how the tables turned." Joe told me through the pain in his body.

"I'm not going to be laughing right now, at least." I smiled at him.

"So you have any ideas for a deputy? You _did _think about that, right?"

"Not really. I've got a few ideas."

"Like who?"

"Well, there's this clueless kid from a vault who seems like the perfect fit for protecting a post-apocalyptic settlement." I referenced with a smile.

"You know, now that you said that out loud, that sounds like a fucking stupid plan that should never happen."

"How long do you think you're gonna be like this?" I asked him.

"Probably a few months."

"Shit, another few months of being sheriff, nice!" I smiled as I popped my hat up.

"Hey, is it okay if I start drinking heavily and date Natalie now?" I asked him.

Joe sighed and frowned.

"Sorry." I told him. "I take it she hasn't visited you?"

"No. Haven't heard from her."

"Maybe it's for the best, Joe. Your life's too crazy for her to join in on." I joked playfully.

"Yeah, I feel totally on the edge right now." He said tiredly on his crutches.

"It could always be worse, buddy. I'll see you later." I nodded as I walked away.

I walked into our house as Victoria sat on the couch and read to Sarah. "Daddy!" Sarah smiled as she ran up to me. I grabbed her and lifted her up for a hug. "Whoah, you're getting big." I grunted as I hugged her and put her down.

"Home so soon?" Victoria asked me.

"I wanted to ask you something."

"Too late for a honeymoon, Jace." She told me as I sat down next to her.

"Do you want to be deputy?" I asked her.

She turned to me.

"What?" She asked.

"We could make it work. We could find you a replacement. I just thought being mayor must be boring by now."

"We need to find someone to take care of Sarah while we're gone."

"What about Walter?" I suggested.

Victoria shook her head. She hasn't trusted him since the incident with Sarah.

"Then who?" I asked.

We then decided telepathically, without using words. I got up and walked to the saloon, opening the door. There sat a woman by herself at the morning counter as a ghoul served her drinks.

"Hi, I'm Gob." The ghoul told me. "I'm new here and I would like to say—"

"Shut up. I don't like you for some reason." I swatted him away from me.

"Okay…" The zombie-man said as he cleaned a shot glass.

I sat down next to her as she drank tequila by herself.

"It's nine in the morning, Nat." I informed her.

"Go away." She told me.

"Why are you doing this?" I asked her.

"I don't want you people near me."

"That's fine. This isn't about me or Vee or even Joe. It's about our daughter."

"What do you want, Jace?" She asked sullenly.

"I want you to babysit her for us. Just keep her safe."

"You realize I'm getting drunk at nine in the morning and you want me to take care of your kid?" Natalie asked me, turning her head and looking at me.

"As weird as it sounds, Joe's the most fatherly towards Sarah, but now that's he's hurt, I have to get the next best thing. You're the only person who even remotely reminds me of him. You're perfect for the job."

"How do you let a drunk idiot with a smart ass demeanor become a better father than you?" She asked me.

I looked at her.

Natalie sipped her tequila shot and exhaled.

"We'll pay you." I added.

"I'll start tomorrow." Natalie decided.

"Now can you get up from that seat for a sec?" She asked as she looked behind the bar counter. I got up slowly and let another man sit down next to Natalie. He ordered a tequila shot and drank it. Without even skipping a beat the two turned towards each other and made out. Natalie's hands stroked his hair until they turned and pulled down on it. She slammed his face into the counter and knocked him out. He fell back off the stool and down to my feet. Natalie finished her shot and stood over him.

"He owed me money." Natalie explained as she dug into his pockets.

"You're perfect." I smiled and nodded at her.

I let Natalie into our house the next day and showed her around. I noticed under our bright lights in our house that Natalie had changed. Her face was no longer naturally happy looking. Her hair wasn't perfectly straight anymore. It had waves and circles and split ends everywhere. Her eyes seemed as if she was asleep for the past year.

"Are you sure about this?" Vee asked me.

"It's either that, or stamp papers for the rest of your life."

Vee thought about it for a second.

"Yup, let's go." She told me as we walked up to Sarah as she played with pre-war dolls.

"Why'd you let Joe give her Barbies for her birthday?" I asked Vee.

"They seemed like a nice present."

I shook my head. "Hey Sarah…" I bent down to her. "Do you remember Natalie?"

She nodded her head and looked up at the hung-over woman as she burped and held her mouth shut.

"Oh my God, this is such a bad idea." Vee muttered to herself.

"Well, honey, she's gonna watch over you while mommy and daddy go to their work. Do you understand why we're doing this?"

Sarah looked at me and nodded. She hugged me as if this were the last time we were seeing each other. "We'll see you tonight, honey. It's not forever." Vee told her daughter as she pulled back her black hair and set it into place.

"You've got soft hair." Vee smiled at her.

"Thank you." Sarah smiled her white teeth at her as she played with her hair.

"Goodbye, honey." Vee kissed her on the forehead and we left.

Natalie stood awkwardly with Sarah alone in the house in silence. "So…"

"You drink yet?" She asked the toddler.


End file.
